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THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 


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THEATTRACTIO. 
OF  THE  MINISTRY 


by  James  H,  Snowden 

Professor  of  Systematic  Theology  in  the 

Western  Theological  Seminary 

Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania, 


Philadelphia 

The  Westminster  Press 

1921 


Copyright,  1921 
By  F.  M.  Braselman 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.  Motives  Which  Do  Not  Apply  to  the  Min- 
istry    15 

1.  Not  a  Money-Making-  Business 15 

2.  Not  a  Place  m  Which  to  Gratify  Ambition  20 

3.  Not  Easy  Work 22 

11.  General  Attractions  of  the  Ministry 29 

1.  Based  on  Truth 29 

2.  Based  on  Right 30 

3.  A  Useful  Work 31 

4.  An  Unselfish  Work 33 

5.  A  Permanent  Calling 35 

6.  A  Great  Work 37 

III.  Specific  Attractions  of  the  Ministry 43 

1.  A  Comfortable  Living 43 

2.  A  Fine  Social  Position 45 

3.  An  Intellectual  Calling 48 

4.  A  Teaching  Vocation 55 

5.  A  Speaking  Vocation 62 

6.  A  Soul- Winning  Vocation 66 

7.  Building  a  Brotherhood 70 

8.  The  Salvation  of  Society 76 

9.  Establishing  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 

World   82 

10.  Leadership     85 

11.  Heroism     87 

12.  A  Great  Fellowship 91 

13.  Coworking  with  God  and  Christ 94 

14.  Great  and  Fine  Rewards 97 

IV.  Some  Subsidiary  Questions 107 

1.  What  Constitutes  a  Call  to  the  Ministry?  107 

2.  What  Preparation  is  Necessary  for  a  Suc- 

cessful  Ministry? 110 

3.  Is  There  Any  Special  Call  for  Ministers 

of  Ability  To-Day  ? 114 


I  thank  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  who  hath  enabled  me, 
for  that  he  counted  me  faithful,  putting  me  into  the 
ministry.     (A.  V.) 

—Paul 

DOCTOR  GEORGE  F.  PENTECOST,  who  at- 
tained eminence  in  the  ministry  both  in  England 
and  America,  and  whose  death  occurred  on 
August  7,  1920,  at  the  age  of  nearly  eighty  years,  whni 
in  prospect  of  his  eightieth  birthday  wrote:  "Should  my 
Lord  come  to  me  now  and  say :  'My  son,  I  have  decided 
to  put  you  back  into  your  twenty-second  year  and  give 
you  another  life's  opportunity.  What  line  of  service  for 
me  will  you  choose — merchant,  lawyer,  doctor,  or  poli- 
tician f  I  would  say,  'My  Lord,  let  me  be  a  minister  of 
the  gospel  or  a  pastor  of  thy  churches;  I  know  what  it 
all  means,  and  I  would  gladly  live  the  life  and  do  the 
work  of  the  ministry  all  over  again;  only  give  me  more 
grace  that  I  may  better  live  my  life  and  do  my  work.'  " 


I  glorify  my  ministry. 

— Paul. 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

WE  are  God's  fellow-workers."  This 
fact  dignifies  and  glorifies  all  true  toil. 
All  worthy  work  is  working  together  with 
God,  whether  it  be  done  in  the  home  or  school, 
field  or  factory,  down  in  the  mine  or  up  on 
the  mast,  at  the  plow  .or  in  the  pulpit.  Jeho- 
vah ''called  by  name  Bezalel  the  son  of  Uri, 
the  son  of  Hur,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah:  .  .  . 
and  .  .  .  filled  him  with  the  Spirit  of  God,  in 
wisdom,  and  in  understanding,  and  in  all 
manner  of  workmanship,  to  devise  skilful 
works,  to  work  in  gold,  and  in  silver,  and  in 
brass,  and  in  cutting  of  stones  for  setting, 
and  in  carving  of  wood,  to  work  in  all 
manner  of  workmanship. ' '  Ex.  31 : 1-5.  The 
analogy  of  this  instance  extends  the  divine 
call  to  and  breathes  divine  inspiration  into 
all  artisans  and  workers  engaged  in  worthy 
service.  Whatever  contributes  to  the  good 
will  and  welfare  of  men  manifests  the  glory 
of  God  and  helps  to  build  his  Kingdom  in  the 

[9] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

world.  This  fact  obliterates  the  distinction 
between  the  sacred  and  the  secular  by  turn- 
ing all  toil  into  coworking  with  God  and 
transfiguring  work  into  worship.  This  does 
not  lower  the  sacred  to  the  level  of  the  secu- 
lar, but  it  lifts  the  secular  to  the  height  of  the 
sacred  and  makes  all  service  divine. 

The  theory  is  therefore  no  longer  held,  if 
it  ever  was  held,  that. a  young  man  in  order 
to  serve  the  Lord  must  enter  the  ministry. 
He  may  be  as  divinely  called  and  as  truly 
serve  the  Lord  in  any  other  field  for  which 
he  is  fitted  and  into  which  it  is  his  duty  to 
enter.  All  true  workers  are  thus  "God^s 
fellow-workers.  ^ ' 

Nevertheless  there  are  degrees  and  ranks 
in  the  fields  of  service  and  some  of  them  are 
higher  and  nobler  and  are  more  directly  re- 
lated to  the  Kingdom  of  God  than  others; 
and  it  is  still  true  that  in  a  special  sense  men 
are  called  of  God  to  enter  the  Christian  min- 
istry. The  prophets  and  apostles  were  spe- 
cially endowed  for  and  called  to  their  work, 
and  Paul  thanked  Christ  Jesus  who  ' '  enabled 

[10] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

me,  .  .  .  for  that  he  counted  me  faithful,  ap- 
pointing me  to  his  service. '*  He  also  de- 
clared, ^^I  glorify  my  ministry,''  showing 
that  he  appreciated  and  emphasized  the  spe- 
cial honor  of  a  call  to  the  ministry.  This 
sense  of  the  special  dignity  and  value  of  a 
call  to  this  service  should  not  be  lost  but 
should  be  intensified  in  our  life. 

It  is  proper,  then,  that  young  men  who  are 
looking  out  upon  the  varied  fields  of  service 
with  a  view  to  selecting  their  life  work  should 
consider  the  Christian  ministry  and  decide 
whether  there  are  reasons  why  they  should 
choose  this  vocation.  Such  a  choice  should 
be  determined  by  proper  motives,  and  it  is 
the  aim  of  this  study  to  set  forth  the  attrac- 
tions of  the  ministry  as  a  help  to  those  who 
are  facing  this  decision. 


[11] 


MOTIVES  WHICH  DO  NOT  APPLY 
TO  THE  MINISTRY 


MOTIVES  WHICH  DO  NOT  APPLY  TO  THE 
MINISTRY 

THERE  are  some  motives  which  may  ap- 
peal strongly  to  young  men  to  enter  some 
other  fields  of  service  which  do  not  apply  to 
the  ministry  and  should  be  ruled  out  of  the 
decision  of  this  question. 

Not  a  Money-Making  Business 
1.  Young  men  should  not  enter  the  min- 
istry to  make  money.  Though  this  motive 
should  always  be  secondary,  yet  it  is  a  legiti- 
mate one  in  considering  many  other  callings. 
Wealth  is  a  necessary  condition  of  social  wel- 
fare and  it  is  therefore  needful  that  some 
men  should  make  it  and  even  devote  their 
lives  to  it.  But  there  are  other  lines  of  serv- 
ice which  are  not  engaged  in  the  production 
of  wealth  and  offer  little  pecuniary  attrac- 
tion. This  is  generally  true  of  the  teaching 
profession  and  of  philanthropic  fields  of  serv- 

[15] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

ice,  but  it  is  especially  true  of  the  ministry. 
While  it  is  rightly  ordained  that  they  that 
preach  the  gospel  shall  live  of  the  gospel,  yet 
only  a  plain  living  is  promised  and  often  only 
a  meager  living  is  realized.  A  few  ministers 
receive  generous  and  even  large  salaries,  but 
these  are  exceptional  and  rare  and  even  these 
salaries  are  not  relatively  large  and  would 
not  permit  the  recipients  to  accumulate 
wealth. 

If  a  young  man  were  to  enter  the  ministry 
with  a  mercenary  motive  he  would  not  only 
be  bitterly  disappointed,  but  he  would  vitiate 
the  very  root  of  his  ministry.  An  English 
art  critic  has  recently  lamented  the  injurious 
effect  of  the  commercial  spirit  upon  art.  ^ '  It 
is  difficult, '^  he  says,  ^Ho  maintain  an  ideal 
in  a  deal.''  The  painter  who  keeps  one  eye 
on  his  canvas  and  another  on  the  price  he 
hopes  to  get  for  it  is  not  likely  to  do  good 
work.  He  is  not  with  a  single  heart  intent 
on  producing  noble  art,  but  rather  on  making 
money,  and  his  mercenary  spirit  will  debase 
his  artist  soul.     The  same  principle  applies 

[  16  ] 


MOTIVES  WHICH  DO  NOT  APPLY 

in  a  still  greater  degree  to  the  ministry. 
Nothing  else  more  surely  blights  the  spirit 
and  power  of  a  minister  than  a  keen  scent 
for  money.  His  soul  is  divided  between  two 
diverse  and  incongruous  things.  It  would  be 
hard  to  associate  with  Jesus  the  idea  that  he 
was  a  money-maker.  He  had  not  where  to 
lay  his  head,  and  in  sending  out  the  Twelve 
he  bade  them  to  go  unburdened  with  any 
money  or  anxiety  about  it  and  charged 
them,  * '  Freely  ye  received,  freely  give. '  *  No 
thought  of  charging  for  the  grace  of  God 
was  ever  to  sully  and  poison  their  minds,  and 
they  were  to  dispense  it  without  money  and 
without  price.  The  retribution  that  fell  upon 
Simon  the  sorcerer,  who  wanted  to  buy  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that  he  might  make 
money  out  of  it,  is  a  grave  warning  to  any 
mercenary  minister. 

Not  only  should  the  minister  not  attempt 
to  turn  his  preaching  to  profit,  but  he  should 
devote  himself  exclusively  to  his  work  and 
not  try  to  mix  business  with  it.  If  he  en- 
deavors to  do  this  he  may  succeed  in  making 
[1'  I 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

money,  but  he  is  not  likely  to  succeed  in  sav- 
ing souls.  A  man  may  be  called  to  preach 
the  gospel,  or  he  may  be  called  to  accumulate 
wealth,  but  he  is  not  called  to  do  both  at  the 
same  time.  Peter  and  Andrew,  hearing  the 
call  of  Jesus,  *  ^  straightway  .  .  .  left  the  nets, 
and  followed  him.''  Too  many  ministers 
are  still  burdened  with  their  old  boats  and 
tangled  up  in  their  old  fishing  nets.  In  en- 
tering the  ministry  we  should  leave  boats  and 
nets  behind. 

The  young  man,  then,  who  is  bent  on  mak- 
ing money  should  not  enter  the  ministry; 
and  everyone  choosing  this  calling  should  re- 
nounce all  effort  and  thought  of  getting  rich, 
and  devote  himself  exclusively  to  it.  How- 
ever, the  sacrifice  is  not  a  serious  deterrent, 
for  the  loss  may  be  small  compared  with  the 
gain,  and  this  low  motive  may  be  submerged 
and  lost  in  higher  ones.  To  the  ministry  in 
a  still  greater  degree  applies  the  principle 
which  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  applied  to  the 
profession  of  literature  in  his  *^  Letter  to  a 
Young  Gentleman  Who  Proposes  to  Embrace 

[18] 


MOTIVES  WHICH  DO  NOT  APPLY 

the  Career  of  Art"  in  the  following  words: 
*^The  direct  returns — the  wages  of  the  trade 
— are  small,  but  the  indirect — the  wages  of 
life — are  infinitely  great.  No  other  business 
offers  a  man  his  daily  bread  upon  such  joy- 
ful terms.  .  .  .  Suppose  it  ill  paid;  the  won- 
der is  it  should  be  paid  at  all.  Other  men 
pay,  and  pay  dearly,  for  pleasures  less  de- 
sirable." 

William  James,  the  eminent  psychologist, 
took  the  same  view.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  in  a  letter  to  his  mother,  he  wrote :  ' '  I 
feel  very  much  the  importance  of  making 
soon  a  final  choice  of  my  business  in  life.  I 
stand  now  at  the  place  where  the  road  forks. 
One  branch  leads  to  material  comfort,  the 
fleshpots,  but  it  seems  a  kind  of  selling  of 
one's  soul.  The  other  to  mental  dignity  and 
independence,  combined,  however,  with  phys- 
ical penury.  ...  I  fear  there  might  be  some 
anguish  in  looking  back  from  the  pinnacle  of 
prosperity  (necessarily  reached,  if  not  by 
eating  dirt,  at  least  by  renouncing  some  di- 
vine ambrosia)  over  the  life  you  might  have 

[19] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

led  in  the  pure  pursuit  of  truth.  It  seems  as 
if  one  could  not  afford  to  give  that  up  for 
any  bribe,  however  great.'' 

These  considerations  that  were  decisive 
with  these  eminent  literary  men  should  ap- 
peal to  young  men  contemplating  the  min- 
istry as  one  of  its  attractions. 

Not  a  Place  in  Which  to  Gratify  Ambition 

2.  In  the  same  line,  the  ministry  is  not  a 
place  in  which  to  gratify  the  ambition  for 
position  and  fame.  It  is  true  that  there  are 
prizes  of  this  kind  in  this  field.  Some  pulpits 
are  strategic  points  of  national  and  even  in- 
ternational publicity  and  influence  and  afford 
a  man  of  commanding  ability  and  genius  a 
conspicuous  and  splendid  position  and  oppor- 
tunity as  a  religious  and  social  leader  and 
platform  orator ;  and  in  every  age  there  have 
been  great  preachers  who  have  won  brilliant 
fame  and  even  lasting  renown.  It  is  right, 
also,  that  a  minister  should  endeavor  to  de- 
velop his  powers  to  their  utmost  and  fill  his 
field  with  the  largest  measure  of  efficiency  and 

[20] 


MOTIVES  WHICH  DO  NOT  APPLY 

influence.  It  is  as  much  his  duty  as  it  is  of 
any  other  man  to  make  the  most  of  himself 
and  of  his  opportunities.  Inevitably  also  his 
eye  will  sweep  his  horizon  and  he  will  be  at- 
tracted to  positions  of  the  highest  usefulness. 
Yet  all  this  is  to  be  sharply  discriminated 
and  kept  free  from  the  worldly  ambition  to 
seek  a  high  place  as  a  means  of  personal  ag- 
grandizement and  gratification.  Wlien  the 
ambition  to  reach  position  and  power  be- 
comes the  dominant  motive  of  a  minister,  it 
not  only  tempts  him  to  use  improper  means 
to  this  end,  but  it  is  also  so  inconsistent  with 
the  true  calling  and  spirit  of  the  ministry 
that  it  will  blight  it  at  the  root.  ^ '  No  man, ' ' 
says  Dr.  James  Denny,  ^'can  give  the  impres- 
sion that  he  himself  is  clever  and  also  that 
Christ  is  mighty  to  save.''  He  may  do  one 
or  the  other,  but  he  cannot  do  both  at  the 
same  time  because  the  two  things  are  mutu- 
ally incompatible.  The  minister  of  Jesus 
Christ  like  his  Master  comes  not  to  be  ** min- 
istered unto,  but  to  minister''  and  he  should 
forget  himself  in  his  mission  and  his  message. 

[21] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

Like  John  the  Baptist  he  should  be  only  a 
voice  proclaiming  him  the  latchet  of  whose 
shoes  he  is  not  worthy  to  unloose.  If  posi- 
tion and  influence  come  to  him,  he  should  wel- 
come them,  but  only  as  a  means  of  further 
service.  The  way  to  get  an  influential  place 
in  the  ministry  is  to  forget  it,  and  let  it  come, 
if  it  will,  of  its  own  accord,  not  sought,  but 
seeking  him  who  by  faithful  service  has 
shown  his  fitness  for  it. 

Not  Easy  Work 

3.  A  third  motive  that  should  not  attract 
anyone  into  the  ministry  is  the  desire  for  a 
soft  place  and  easy  work.  This  is  not  a  very 
worthy  motive  for  entering  any  field  of  serv- 
ice, but  it  does  appeal  to  and  draws  many 
young  men  into  various  callings.  The  lure  of 
'  *  the  white  collar ' '  has  an  attraction  for  many 
who  are  crowding  into  clerkships  where  they 
can  dress  like  gentlemen  and  have  unsoiled 
hands,  but  where  they  may  also  doom  them- 
selves to  ill-paid  work  all  their  lives. 

The  ministry  looks  like  a  '^soft  snap'^  and 

[22] 


MOTIVES  WHICH  DO  NOT  APPLY 

an  easy  and  almost  idle  life,  as  it  may  seem 
to  an  onlooker  to  be  coddled  in  comfort,  flat- 
tered by  admiring  parishioners,  and  fanned 
with  perfumed  air  by  adorers  of  the  gentler 
and  more  sentimental  sex.  ^^Pat,"  said  one 
Irish  hodcarrier  to  another,  ^  ^  if  you  had  your 
choice,  what  would  you  be  ? ' '  ''  Well,  Mike, ' ' 
said  Pat,  '^I  believe  for  a  nice,  clean,  easy 
job,  I  would  choose  to  be  a  bishop.''  A  good 
many  think  the  way  of  Pat,  and  some  young 
men  may  be  cherishing  this  delusion.  For  a 
delusion  it  certainly  is  that  will  surely  work 
its  own  disillusionment  and  revenge. 

While  the  ministry  has  its  pleasant  fea- 
tures and  comfortable  aspects,  yet  it  is  verily 
a  strenuous  life.  It  knows  nothing  of  short 
hours  and  scarcely  has  a  rest  day,  as  it  is 
subject  to  calls  and  service  the  week  through 
and  at  almost  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night. 
It  puts  a  severe  strain  and  tax  on  all  a  man's 
powers,  physical,  mental,  and  emotional ;  and 
it  is  burdened  with  responsibilities  and  anx- 
ieties that  are  exhausting  to  the  nervous  sys- 
tem and  trying  to  the  soul.    Whoever  is  hunt- 

[23] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

ing-  a  soft  place  and  easy  work  had  better 
give  the  ministry  a  wide  berth. 

Closely  akin  to  this  view  is  the  notion  that 
the  ministry  is  easy  in  that  it  does  not  call  for 
ability  equal  to  that  demanded  by  business 
and  other  professions.  Tradition  ascribes  to 
parents  the  disposition  to  direct  their  ablest 
sons  into  the  law  and  medicine  and  business 
and  send  their  least  competent  son  into  the 
ministry.  It  is  doubtful  whether  this  was 
ever  consciously  done,  and  the  average  abil- 
ity of  ministers  compared  with  that  of  other 
professions  does  not  lend  confirmation  or 
color  to  such  a  practice.  But  any  such  view 
is  without  the  shadow  of  foundation  and 
would  quickly  disprove  itself  if  it  were  tried. 
The  ministry  is  as  exacting  in  its  demands 
for  ability  as  any  other  calling  and  is  as  suc- 
cessful in  attracting  able  men  as  other  fields. 
The  task  of  the  modern  minister  is  growing 
increasingly  difficult  and  instead  of  lowering 
is  raising  its  standard  of  service.  To  use  a 
current  phrase,  the  ministry  is  ^'a  man^s 
job,"  and  only  strong  men  should  enter  it. 

[24] 


MOTIVES  WHICH  DO  NOT  APPLY 

It  is  already  evident  that  the  ministry  is 
not  all  roses  and  rainbows  and  has  its  thorns 
and  dark  days  like  other  callings.  There  are 
others  of  these  apparently  deterrent  features 
of  the  ministry,  such  as  the  uncertain  tenure 
of  the  pastorate,  the  meager  support  that  is 
often  given  to  it,  the  exacting  and  unreason- 
able people  that  it  must  try  to  please  and 
satisfy,  the  petty  faultfinding  and  unjust  and 
unkind  criticism  that  it  is  subject  to,  the 
many  irritations  and  annoyances  that  it  must 
bear,  and  so  on.  Paul  desired  the  brethren 
to  pray  for  him  that  he  might  be  delivered 
from  ^^unreasonable  .  .  .  men,''  and  this 
tribe  has  not  yet  all  passed  out  of  the  world 
and  church,  and  the  modern  minister  is  still 
plagued  with  his  share  of  them.  There  are 
unpleasant  and  trying  aspects  of  the  min- 
istry and  it  is  right  that  they  should  be  pre- 
sented along  with  its  attractions  and  even 
painted  in  their  darkest  colors. 

If  any  young  man  can  be  turned  back  by 
such  discouragements  it  would  appear  that 
he  is  not  made  of  the  right  stuff  for  this  call- 

[25] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

ing  and  had  better  not  go  on.  Gideon  sifted 
out  his  men  until  he  had  only  three  hundred 
brave  and  stalwart  soldiers,  but  with  them 
he  won  a  signal  victory.  The  ministry  wants 
sifted  men  of  tried  souls  and  true  who  are 
not  afraid  of  an  enemy  and  a  hard  fight. 
Every  field  of  labor  has  its  hardships  and 
discouragements,  and  if  a  young  man  is  try- 
ing to  escape  these  things  and  wants  to  be 
carried  on  flowery  beds  of  ease,  he  will  not 
find  work  to  suit  him  anywhere  in  this  world. 
The  ministry  is  a  strenuous  life  calling  for 
men  of  ability  and  virility  and  of  whole- 
hearted consecration,  and  the  avaricious  man, 
the  ambitious  man,  and  the  lazy  or  incom- 
petent man  had  better  keep  out  of  it.  Its  call 
is  for  *  *  a  good  soldier  of  Christ  Jesus. ' ' 


[26] 


n 


GENERAL  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE 
MINISTRY 


II 

GENERAL  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

THERE  are  some  general  attractions  of 
the  ministry  which  it  has  in  common  with 
some  other  worthy  calhngs,  which  will  now 
be  considered. 

Based  on  Truth 

1.  The  ministry  is  based  on  truth.  It  pro- 
claims the  gospel  of  Him  who  said,  * '  I  am  the 
truth'';  and  however  the  human  understand- 
ing and  presentation  of  this  truth  may  be 
mixed  with  human  error,  yet  his  gospel 
stands  through  the  ages  as  an  embodiment 
of  the  essential  truth  concerning  God  and 
man  in  their  mutual  relations.  Any  system 
of  teaching  and  life  calling  not  based  on  truth 
cannot  be  a  worthy  vocation  and  cannot  last 
because  it  is  out  of  gear  with  the  world  and 
refuses  to  fit  into  the  universe.  The  stars 
are  fighting  against  it.  No  young  man  should 
choose  a  calling  that  is  not  founded  on  fact, 

[29] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

for  in  so  doing  lie  is  following  a  delusion  that 
will  surely  lead  to  disappointment  and  fail- 
ure; but  in  following  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
he  shall  not  walk  in  darkness  but  shall  have 
the  light  of  life  and  will  not  be  afraid  to  face 
any  fact  or  to  come  into  the  light  of  any  truth 
in  any  field  of  the  universe. 

Based  on  Right 
2.  The  ministry  is  based  on  right.  The 
right  is  that  which  is  straight  as  the  word 
means,  as  opposed  to  that  which  is  wrong  or 
wrung,  for  the  two  forms  are  only  different 
spellings  of  the  same  word.  Anything  that 
is  not  right  is  crooked,  and  again  it  refuses 
to  fit  into  the  facts  of  reality.  The  integrity  of 
the  universe  will  not  tolerate  it.  No  crooked 
business  is  respectable,  and  every  such  voca- 
tion is  doomed,  and  every  young  man  should 
shun  it.  But  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  as  straight 
as  a  beam  of  sunlight  and  as  just  as  the  char- 
acter of  God,  and  no  one  will  ever  be  ashamed 
of  it  or  fear  to  have  it  tested  by  the  highest 
and  finest  standards  of  ethical  integrity. 

[30] 


GENERAL  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

A  Useful  Work 

3.  The  ministry  is  good  or  useful.  This 
is  another  standard  by  which  we  evaluate  the 
worth  of  things.  Any  thought  or  deed  that 
is  not  good  is  evil  and  is  a  seed  of  decay  and 
death.  Any  business  that  is  not  useful  is 
worthless  and  wasteful  and  is  likely  to  be 
wicked.  The  liquor  traffic  fell  under  con- 
demnation on  the  ground  of  its  being  a  vast 
waste  and  damage  to  society,  and  so  it  had 
to  go.  There  are  still  other  businesses,  such 
as  gambling,  that  are  wholly  harmful  and 
contain  no  atom  of  good.  Young  men  in 
choosing  a  calling  should  test  it  by  this  stand- 
ard, and  if  it  fulfills  no  useful  end,  if  it  ren- 
ders no  worthy  service  in  the  world,  it  is  a 
bad  business  and  should  be  avoided. 

The  ministry  is  good  and  useful  in  the 
highest  sense  and  degree,  as  it  preaches  and 
applies  the  gospel  that  is  profitable  for  all 
things  and  has  in  it  the  promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is  as  well  as  of  that  which  is  to 
come.  It  is  ever  the  higher  that  lifts  the 
lower,  the  soul  that  transforms  and  transfig- 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

ures  the  body,  and  knowledge  raises  the  level 
of  all  life.  Ideas  rule  the  world;  science 
secretes  civilization.  The  gospel  proclaims 
the  most  practical  and  powerful  truth  in  re- 
lation to  human  welfare,  and  wherever  this 
truth  shines  there  the  world  is  brightest  and 
life  rises  to  the  highest  forms  and  bears  the 
finest  fruit. 

Some  misguided  or  prejudiced  minds  may 
look  on  the  minister  as  a  nonproducer  and 
parasite  in  society,  but  any  such  view  and 
charge  is  wholly  unfounded  and  false.  The 
thinker  is  a  producer  as  certainly  as  the 
farmer  and  the  manufacturer,  and  the  artist 
not  less  than  the  artisan.  Indeed,  it  is  the 
thinker  that  fertilizes  the  world  with  preg- 
nant ideas  which  are  the  seeds  of  all  our  prog- 
ress, without  which  the  world  would  be  a  bar- 
ren soil.  Newton  did  not  leave  any  money  or 
magic  machine  to  the  world,  but  he  left  it 
ideas  that  have  enormously  increased  all  its 
wealth.  The  minister  has  no  cause  to  fear  this 
charge  and  need  not  be  ashamed  to  look  the 
physical  toiler  in  the  face,  for  he  himself  is  a 

[32] 


GENERAL  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

producer  of  the  richest  goods  of  life  and  of 
the  most  essential  health  and  wealth  of  the 
soul,  the  very  bread  of  life ;  and  therefore  his 
calling  bears  upon  it  the  justification  of  the 
supremely  useful  and  good. 

An  Unselfish  Wokk 

4.  Again,  the  ministry  is  an  altruistic  or 
unselfish  work.  All  worthy  work  has  in  it  an 
element  of  altruism,  as  it  not  only  ministers 
to  the  worker  but  also  to  the  w^orld.  A  man 
can  turn  any  business,  however  good,  to  a 
selfish  end  as  he  tries  to  build  it  up  at  the 
expense  of  other  men's  interests  and  devotes 
its  profits  wholly  to  his  o\vn  gratification. 
But  any  selfish  life  is  at  war  with  funda- 
mental, psychological,  and  ethical  laws  and 
will  work  out  its  own  retribution. 

Even  among  worthy  vocations  some  are 
primarily  gainful  occupations.  The  manu- 
facturer or  the  merchant  has  his  eye  on 
profits  and  his  first  thought  is  for  himself, 
though  he  may  also  use  his  means  and  turn 
his  whole  business  to  an  altruistic  end.    But 

[33] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

there  are  callings  that  in  their  very  nature 
are  altruistic  and  have  little  regard  for  per- 
sonal gain.  The  teacher,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  sec- 
retary, the  welfare  worker,  and  the  philan- 
thropist in  any  field  are  not  thinking  of  profit 
for  themselves  but  of  service  to  others.  There 
is  a  growing  number  of  these  socialized  voca- 
tions in  our  modern  world  and  they  are  a 
hopeful  sign  of  ethical  and  spiritual  progress. 
The  ministry  stands  preeminent  among  these 
altruistic  callings.  As  the  Master  came '  ^  not  to 
be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister ' '  and  took 
a  towel  and  girded  himself  with  it  and  began 
to  wash  his  disciples '  feet,  so  should  all  Chris- 
tians and  especially  ministers  follow  in  his 
steps.  The  minister's  work  consists  in  serv- 
ing the  people  as  he  jDreaches  to  them  in  the 
pulpit,  visits  them  in  their  homes,  and  per- 
forms all  the  duties  of  his  office;  and  in  all 
his  work  he  seldom  and  generally  not  at  all 
has  any  thought  of  any  kind  of  gain  or  re- 
ward in  his  mind.  Service  is  his  daily  round 
of  work.  Other  men  may  wonder  that  he 
turns  away  from  fields  in  which  he  might 

[34] 


GENERAL  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

make  a  large  income  and  achieve  some  dis- 
tinction in  order  that  he  may  do  such  work, 
but  he  has  meat  to  eat  that  they  know  not  of. 
His  work  therefore  is  raised  to  a  high  level 
of  service  and  sacrifice,  nobility  and  beauty. 
''Let  us  not  be  weary  in  well-doing, ^ ^  says 
Paul,  or  in  beautiful  doing,  as  the  word 
means.  Unselfishness  adorns  any  deed  with 
beauty,  imparting  to  it  a  grace  more  splendid 
than  flashing  gems.  The  ministry  is  devoted 
to  such  work  and  it  ought  to  be  and  often  is 
the  most  beautiful  service  in  the  world. 

A  Permanent  Calling 

5.  The  ministry  is  a  permanent  calling. 
Some  kinds  of  work  are  temporary  in  their 
nature  and,  having  fulfilled  their  use,  pass 
away.  Munition  makers  reaped  a  golden  har- 
vest during  the  War,  but  when  the  War 
stopped  their  work  stopped  with  it.  In  choos- 
ing a  calling  young  men  would  do  well  to  con- 
sider this  point  of  permanency.  If  they  fit 
themselves  for  a  kind  of  work  that  will  pres- 
ently cease  to  be  in  demand,  they  will  be  out 

[35] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

of  employment  and  be  left  with  a  kind  of  skill 
which  has  cost  them  much  preparation  but 
for  which  they  can  find  no  use. 

The  ministry  is  permanent  by  its  nature. 
It  is  rooted  down  in  the  religious  nature  of 
man,  and  this  is  as  constitutional  and  in- 
eradicable and  abiding  as  his  mental  and 
physical  nature  and  needs.  The  work  of  the 
priest  is  one  of  the  oldest  callings  in  the 
world,  being  more  ancient  and  universal  than 
raising  food  and  weaving  cloth  for  clothes; 
and  there  is  no  sign  of  its  becoming  obsolete 
in  our  modern  world  through  a  decline  in  the 
demand  for  it  and  the  passing  of  its  market. 
Men  always  have  had  and  always  will  have 
religious  needs  which  they  will  demand  shall 
be  supplied ;  and  the  prophet  is  the  man  that 
can  meet  this  necessity.  Never  was  there  a 
greater  need  and  a  more  urgent  demand  for 
a  competent  ministry  that  can  satisfy  the  re- 
ligious needs  of  men  than  there  is  to-day. 
Young  men  that  are  thinking  of  preparing 
for  this  service  need  not  fear  that  if  they 
enter  it  they  will  find  that  they  have  chosen 

[36] 


GENERAL  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

a  narrowing  field  and  vanishing  profession. 
The  matter  of  the  particular  field  is  not  now 
being  considered,  but  the  general  need  of  the 
ministry  is  rooted  in  the  essential  nature  of 
man  and  will  last  as  long  as  man  himself 
lasts  in  this  world. 

A  Geeat  Work 

6.  The  ministry  is  a  great  work.  It  is  great 
in  its  subject-matter  or  ideas  which  deal  with 
God  and  man  and  sweep  the  whole  field  of 
being,  so  that  as  a  system  of  thought,  theology 
is  a  universal  science  and  nothing  in  the  uni- 
verse is  foreign  or  uninteresting  to  it.  It  is 
great  in  its  motives  as  all  the  interests  of 
time  and  eternity  are  behind  it  to  give  it  re- 
sponsibility and  urgency.  It  is  great  in  its 
plan  and  program,  for  it  proposes  a  radical 
regeneration  of  the  individual  in  heart  and 
character  and  life  and  an  equally  radical  re- 
construction of  society  in  its  spirit  and  order, 
and  then  it  sweeps  its  circle  around  the  world 
that  it  may  rebuild  it  into  the  Kingdom  of 
God  on  earth. 

[37] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

Vocations  differ  greatly  in  this  point  of 
magnitude,  and  it  should  have  large  place  and 
weight  in  choosing  a  calling  in  life.  A  great 
work  tends  to  make  us  great,  and  a  small 
work  tends  to  make  us  small.  The  mind  in- 
sensibly expands  or  contracts  to  the  size  of 
the  field  it  works  in.  This  is  the  mischief  of 
a  minute  division  of  labor  that  tethers  a  man 
to  a  small  and  insignificant  mechanical  task 
that  repeats  its  endless  round  of  drudgery 
and  allows  no  play  of  mind  in  initiative  and 
variety.  Even  to  devote  one's  life  to  mere 
money  making,  while  it  sharpens  the  acquisi- 
tive wits,  may  narrow  the  mind  and  wither 
the  heart.  The  man  that  would  give  his  whole 
time  and  thought  to  carving  heads  on  cherry 
seeds  would  presently  have  a  cherry-seed 
head.  But  a  work  of  great  importance  and 
responsibility  inspires  us  with  a  sense  of  its 
magnitude  and  calls  out  our  ambition  and 
power.  When  we  are  shut  in,  down  in  a  nar- 
row valley  or  in  the  confines  of  a  walled  in- 
closure,  not  only  is  our  vision  contracted,  but 
our  whole  nature  is  cramped  and  tends  to 

[38] 


GENERAL  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 


shrink ;  but  when  Ave  climb  a  mountain  it  puts 
its  giant  shoulder  under  us  and  lifts  us  into 
the  blue,  where  we  have  a  vaster  dome  over 
us  and  a  far-flung  horizon  around  us  and  a 
splendid  and  inspiring  vision.  Wliile  we 
climb  the  mountain  the  mountain  lifts  us  and 
imparts  to  us  some  of  its  majesty  and  mys- 
tery; and  it  is  impossible  to  stand  on  the 
summit  of  a  lofty  mountain  and  not  swell 
with  a  new  sense  of  the  mystic  greatness  and 
grandeur  of  the  world  and  of  life. 

Many  a  person  is  leading  a  narrow,  shriv- 
eled, morbid  life,  eating  his  own  heart  out, 
because  he  has  no  wide  outlook  and  worthy 
objective  to  take  him  out  of  himself  and  cause 
him  to  lose  his  sour  self-consciousness  and 
be  absorbed  in  a  greater  and  nobler  life.  Let 
us  get.  out  of  the  low  ideas  and  ideals  of  a 
self -centered  and  selfish  life  and  climb  some 
great  mountain  of  vision  and  service.  Such 
an  elevation  of  thought  and  aim  will  lift  us 
out  of  the  ruts  and  holes  of  our  life  and  espe- 
cially out  of  our  morbid  grievances  and  our 
mental  and  physical  aches  and  complaints, 

[39] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

which  are  so  largely  subjective  and  will  sim- 
ply vanish  if  we  forget  them,  and  will  catch 
us  up  into  the  inspiration  of  a  great  life. 

The  ministry  is  the  greatest  calling  in  the 
world  from  the  point  of  view  of  great  ideas 
and  ideals.  It  is  true  that  a  few  exceptional 
men,  by  reason  of  their  genius  and  great  sta- 
tion, the  supreme  thinker  and  poet  and  artist, 
or  the  great  statesman  or  general,  wield  a 
power  exceeding  that  of  any  other  class  of 
men  and  cast  the  shadow  of  their  fame  far 
down  the  centuries.  But  so  also  may  the 
preacher  of  great  genius  command  wide 
power  and  acquire  enduring  fame.  Yet 
among  ordinary  men  the  minister  has  a  work 
that  handles  the  greatest  ideas  of  the  human 
mind,  that  allies  him  with  the  best  men  and 
the  greatest  souls  and  with  God  himself  in 
the  greatest  dream  and  enterprise  of  all  the 
ages,  the  rebuilding  of  the  whole  world  into 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  This  work  will  lift  a 
minister  out  of  low  interests  and  aims  into 
a  lofty  life  that  will  expand  his  vision  and 
stir  his  energies  and  tend  to  make  him  great. 

[40] 


ni 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE 
MINISTRY 


Ill 

SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

THERE   are   some   attractions   that   spe- 
cially belong  to  or  inhere  in  the  ministry 
that  will  now  be  mentioned. 

A  Comfortable  Living 
1.  The  ministry  is  assured  of  a  comfort- 
able living'.  This  statement  may  elicit  some 
surprise  as  not  being  in  accordance  with 
popular  understanding  and  the  personal  and 
painful  experience  of  many  ministers.  Is  not 
the  ministry  notoriously  one  of  the  most 
poorly  paid  callings  in  the  modern  world? 
Do  not  even  day  laborers  receive  more? 
Some  common  laborers  under  the  exceptional 
circumstances  of  the  War  did  receive  more 
than  the  average  minister,  but  this  was  only 
a  temporary  condition. 

The  average  salary  of  all  ministers  is  dis- 
tressingly low,  but  for  the  better  educated 
ministry  required  by  the  leading  denomina- 

[43] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

tions  the  average  is  higher  and  compares 
favorably  with  the  teaching  profession  gen- 
erally. The  writer  does  not  maintain,  how- 
ever, that  the  ministry  is  a  profitable  or 
money-making  vocation  compared  with  some 
other  professions  and  with  business.  On  the 
contrary,  he  has  already  denied  this  point 
and  emphasized  the  denial. 

Yet  it  remains  true  that  the  minister  of 
the  gospel  does  and  must  live  of  the  gospel 
in  accordance  with  New  Testament  teaching. 
This  living  is  also  on  an  average  scale  of 
comfort.  Ministers  generally  receive  a  salary 
that  is  on  a  level  with  the  average  income  of 
their  people,  neither  being  pressed  down  to 
the  poverty  of  the  poorest  nor  raised  to  the 
affluence  of  the  richest  members  of  their  con- 
gregations. This  salary  usually  enables  a 
minister  to  support  his  family  comfortably 
and  to  educate  his  children  properly. 

The  minister  can  also  depend  on  his  salary 
with  a  degree  of  assurance  that  is  not  en- 
joyed by  all  other  professional  classes.  Be- 
ginners in  other  professions,  such  as  law  and 

[44] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

medicine,  must  usually  pass  through  a  period 
of  meager  earnings  and  precarious  subsist- 
ence while  becoming  established  in  their  pro- 
fessions and  fields,  whereas  the  young  min- 
ister generally  starts  off  with  a  sufficient 
assured  income. 

Ministers'  salaries  have  been  far  too  low, 
owing  to  the  great  rise  in  prices,  but  there  is 
now  a  general  movement  to  raise  them.  It 
is  also  true  in  the  ministry,  as  in  other  call- 
ings, that  superior  ability  and  increased  ef- 
ficiency sooner  or  later  bring  higher  remu- 
neration. 

While  no  one  should  enter  the  ministry 
wholly  or  mainly  because  of  this  attraction, 
yet  the  fact  that  this  calling  offers  an  assured 
income  and  fair  living  from  the  start  is  a 
subordinate  inducement  which  a  young  man 
in  contemplating  the  ministry  has  a  right  to 
take  into  account. 

A  Fine  Social  Position 

2.  The  minister  enjoys  a  fine  social  posi- 
tion.   Again  this  fact  is  only  mentioned  with- 

[45] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

out  unduly  stressing  it  as  one  of  the  subordi- 
nate attractions  of  this  calling.  The  minister, 
by  reason  of  his  ability  and  education  and 
especially  of  his  position  as  a  preacher  and 
pastor,  at  once  steps  into  the  esteem  of  his 
people  and  is  accorded  a  respected  and  influ- 
ential place  in  the  community.  Due  deference 
is  paid  to  his  person  and  opinions,  character 
and  dignity,  by  all  classes,  and  he  and  his 
family  are  the  recipients  of  social  attentions 
and  favors  that  are  as  enjoyable  as  they  are 
honorable.  Often  he  is  the  most  conspicuous 
and  influential  man  in  his  community  or  city. 
It  is  true  that  a  minister  is  no  longer  re- 
garded as  a  sacrosanct  being  and  paid  almost 
divine  honors  on  the  ground  of  his  sacred 
calling.  That  kind  of  fictitious  dignity  and 
divinity  is  gone,  and  it  is  well  that  it  is  so. 
The  minister  is  now  judged  as  a  man  among 
men,  and  if  he  is  unworthy  of  respect  he  will 
soon  forfeit  it  and  be  stripped  of  the  honor 
that  attaches  to  his  office.  If  a  minister  is 
not  a  genuine  gentleman,  he  will  soon  be 
found  out  and  no  artificial  veneer  and  polish 

[46] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

will  save  him  in  the  hour  of  his  exposure. 
No  longer  will  ^'the  cloth"  cover  and  hide 
unworthy  ministerial  character  and  conduct. 
Nevertheless  the  minister  starts  with  all 
things  in  his  favor,  with  the  public  presump- 
tion that  he  is  a  scholar  and  gentleman  and 
man  of  pure  character  worthy  of  all  respect 
and  honor.  This  honor  will  be  freely  ac- 
corded him,  and  unless  he  justly  forfeits  it, 
he  will  keep  it  and  grow  in  social  esteem  and 
public  influence. 

Let  no  one  jeeringly  say  that  Peter  and 
Paul  and  other  great  preachers  never  once 
thought  of  such  things  as  a  comfortable  liv- 
ing and  a  fine  social  position,  but  counted  all 
worldly  considerations  but  loss  and  did  not 
even  count  their  lives  dear  that  they  might 
preach  the  gospel.  This  was  their  call  to 
service  and  sacrifice  in  their  exceptional  day 
and  circumstances,  and  nobly  did  they  re- 
spond to  it;  and  did  such  critical  circum- 
stances and  dangers  confront  them,  ministers 
would  meet  them  with  equal  consecration  and 
heroism  to-day.     But  the  case  is  different 

[47] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

with  the  normal  call  that  now  comes  to  our 
young  men,  and  it  is  proper  that  these  sec- 
ondary considerations,  while  being  kept  in 
due  subordination,  should  yet  be  taken  into 
account  and  permitted  to  add  their  attrac- 
tions to  the  ministry. 

An  Intellectual  Calling 

3.  The  ministry  has  the  attraction  of  being 
an  intellectual  calling.  By  the  very  nature 
and  requirement  of  his  work  the  minister  is 
a  scholar  and  student,  with  a  trained  and 
richly  stored  mind.  He  goes  through  a  long 
course  of  education,  passing  through  common 
school,  high  school,  college,  and  theological 
seminary,  so  that  he  enters  upon  his  work  as 
a  disciplined  thinker  with  a  large  stock  of 
knowledge.  But  his  education,  so  far  from 
being  finished  at  graduation,  runs  on  in  a 
broadening  and  deepening  stream  through  all 
his  work  and  life. 

His  primary  study  is  the  Bible,  together" 
with  general  religious  literature,  and  into 
this  unique  and  supreme  Book  he  ever  digs 

[48] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

deeper,  studying  its  languages  and  history 
and  customs  and  teachings  and  assimilating 
its  ideas  and  spirit.  This  is  in  itself  a  con- 
stant education,  as  the  Bible  is  a  mass  of  the 
finest  and  richest  literature  in  the  world. 
These  prophets  and  poets  and  apostles  were 
men  of  religious  genius  who  were  sensitive 
to  every  breath  of  the  Spirit,  lofty  mountain 
peaks  that  early  caught  the  light  of  God's 
face  and  reflected  it  down  upon  their  fellow 
men.  To  live  in  their  companionship  and 
learn  to  see  their  visions  and  throb  with  their 
aspirations  is  a  high  privilege  and  inspira- 
tion. The  most  purely  distilled  and  highly 
spiritualized  and  supremely  precious  heart 
blood  of  the  race  has  been  poured  into  these 
pages,  and  the  minister  by  constant  study  and 
meditation  absorbs  it  into  his  own  soul. 

But  the  minister  is  a  student  of  no  single 
book,  though  that  book  be  as  profound  and 
inexhaustible  as  the  Bible.  He  is  a  universal 
student,  a  citizen  of  the  whole  world  of  knowl- 
edge. Theology,  like  philosophy,  is  a  uni- 
versal science,  exploring  all  fields  and  rifling 

[49] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

them  of  their  infinitely  varied  treasures  and 
making  them  all  its  own.  God  is  in  all  things, 
and  all  things  run  up  to  God  for  their  final 
completion  and  explanation ;  and  so  all  things 
reveal  something  of  his  wisdom  and  will. 
Every  common  bush  is  afire  with  God,  every 
fact  has  diamond-like  facets  that  reflect  his 
light  and  glory.  All  things,  from  the  center 
to  the  outmost  circumference  of  the  universe, 
are  related  and  bound  together  in  a  system 
of  perfect  harmony  and  exquisite  sympathy, 
so  that  invisible  motes  and  mighty  systems, 
sorrowing  souls  and  starry  constellations 
work  together  for  good.  Any  fact  in  any 
quarter  of  the  universe  is  a  thread  that  will 
unravel  its  whole  web,  for  it  exemplifies  some 
principle  or  truth  that  runs  to  its  center  and 
wraps  itself  around  God. 

The  minister,  along  with  the  philosopher 
and  the  poet,  should  be  a  man  of  insight  and 
imagination  to  see  this  unity  of  all  things. 
He  should  know  that 

"No  lily-muffled  hum  of  summer  bee, 
But  finds  some  coupling  with  the  spinning  stars; 
[50] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

No  pebble  at  your  feet  but  proves  a  sphere; 
No  chaffinch  but  implies  the  cherubim." 

And  he  should 

"See  that  each  blade  of  gi*ass 
Has  roots  that  grope  about  eternity, 
And  see  in  each  drop  of  dew  upon  each  blade 
A  mirror  of  the  inseparable  All." 

The  minister,  therefore,  perhaps  more  than 
any  other  professional  man,  should  send  out 
a  decree  that  all  the  world  shall  be  taxed  to 
furnish  him  with  materials  for  his  sermons. 
All  sciences,  astronomy,  geology,  chemistry, 
biology,  psychology,  sociology,  physics,  and 
metaphysics,  bring  grist  to  his  mill.  No  fact, 
however  remote  and  unrelated  it  may  seem, 
is  really  foreign  to  him,  but  may  yield  un- 
expected confirmation  and  illustration  to  his 
theme.  Literature  and  poetry  and  art  are 
especially  rich  mines  of  truth  for  him.  He 
stands  in  his  watchtower  and  surveys  the 
whole  field  of  human  history  and  learning 
and  progress  and  makes  it  subservient  to  his 
ends.  He  returns  from  all  his  studies,  as  a 
bee  from  many  flowers  which  it  has  rifled  of 

[51] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

their  sweets,  laden  with  golden  treasure.  All 
the  streams  of  his  growing  knowledge  pour 
into  the  reservoir  of  his  mind  from  which  he 
draws  his  sermons.  This  raw  material  goes 
into  his  mind  as  the  coal  and  coke  and  ore 
go  into  the  top  of  the  blast  furnace  in  due 
time  to  gush  out  at  the  bottom  in  a  molten 
stream  of  metal.  All  that  a  minister  reads 
and  sees  and  experiences  sooner  or  later  will 
enter  into  his  sermons,  weaving  threads  into 
their  webs  or  flashing  out  in  them  as  jewels 
of  illustration. 

Every  sermon  springs  out  of  the  whole  life 
of  the  man  that  preaches  it.  As  every  seed 
draws  on  the  soil  and  the  shower  and  the 
sun  so  that  it  takes  the  whole  solar  system 
to  make  a  single  grain  of  wheat  or  blade  of 
grass,  so  every  sermon  sinks  its  roots  down 
through  all  the  years  of  the  preacher  and  is 
the  outgrowth  of  his  total  experience.  Or  as 
a  river  is  composed  of  drops  that  have  fallen 
out  of  the  sky  over  many  thousands  of  square 
miles,  so  a  preacher's  sermon  is  composed  of 
multitudinous  drops  that  have  been  distilled 

[52] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

out  of  his  entire  life.  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
was  right  when  he  said  it  took  him  forty  years 
to  make  a  certain  sermon,  though  he  spent 
only  a  few  hours  on  its  special  preparation. 
Ruskin  said  that  he  would  use  the  Devil  him- 
self, if  he  could  catch  him,  for  black  pigment ; 
and  so  the  preacher  can  use  everything,  how- 
ever unrelated  and  unpromising  it  may  seem, 
in  his  sermons ;  for  every  sermon  he  preaches 
will  be  the  precipitate  of  his  personality,  the 
outgrowth  and  harvest  of  his  whole  experi- 
ence. Hence  the  importance  to  the  minister 
of  that  broader  culture  out  of  which  good 
sermons  can  grow.  A  barren  soil  is  sure  to 
raise  poor  sermons.  A  small  man  cannot 
preach  a  big  sermon  because  he  does  not  have 
the  breadth  and  depth  of  experience  out  of 
which  a  great  sermon  can  come. 

The  preacher,  then,  must  have  a  full  mind 
to  furnish  him  with  abundant  and  varied  ma- 
terial, and  a  logical  mind  to  digest  it  and  im- 
agination to  illuminate  it.  Such  a  mind  is  the 
secret  and  source  of  endless  fertility  and 
variety  in  sermons,  and  the  only  way  a  min- 

[53] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

ister  can  have  such  a  mind  is  to  keep  filHng 
it  up  in  constant  study.  A  preacher  should 
never  be  a  mere  pipe  tapping  other  men's 
reservoirs  and  draining-  off  the  distilled  es- 
sence of  their  thinking,  but  he  should  have 
within  himself  an  original  spring  of  ideas 
ever  welling  up  and  brimming  over  in  peren- 
nial fullness  and  sparkling  freshness.  Such 
a  preacher  will  never  run  dry  and  his  ser- 
mons never  grow  stale. 

Now  the  acquisition  of  truth  for  its  own 
sake  is  one  of  the  highest  occupations  and 
noblest  pleasures  of  the  human  mind.  Truth 
is  the  natural  sustenance  and  exhilarating 
wdne  of  the  mind,  eliciting  and  developing 
all  its  faculties  and  interests  and  luring  them 
on  into  ever  larger  fields  and  fuller  and  finer 
satisfactions.  The  pursuit  of  knowledge  is  a 
quest  attended  with  ever  fresh  variety  and 
picturesqueness,  adventure  and  surprise,  and 
wonder  akin  to  worship.  It  constantly  opens 
up  new  horizons  and  ushers  us  into  an  ever 
vaster  world.  It  pays  its  own  way  at  every 
step  and  is  its  own  pure  and  satisfying  re- 

[54] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

ward.  It  enlarges  and  ennobles  the  soul  and 
enormously  increases  its  ^\isdom  and  wealth 
as  it  possesses  and  grows  into  mystic  unity 
with  the  world,  so  that  we  can  say:  All 
things  are  ours,  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or 
Cephas,  or  Plato,  or  Shakspere,  or  Tenny- 
son, or  the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things 
present,  or  things  to  come,  all  are  ours,  and 
we  are  ^'owners  of  the  sphere,  the  seven 
stars,  and  the  solar  year. '  ^ 

It  was  of  such  pursuit  and  possession  that 
Stevenson  said  that  **  Other  men  pay,  and 
pay  dearly,  for  pleasures  less  desirable, '^ 
and  James  said  that  *'It  seems  as  if  one 
could  not  afford  to  give  that  up  for  any  bribe, 
however  great."  The  minister  enjoys  this 
privilege  and  pleasure  of  intellectual  pursuit 
in  a  rare  degree  and  it  is  one  of  the  finest 
attractions  of  the  ministry. 

A  Teaching  Vocation 

4.  The  ministry  has  the  attraction  of  being 
a  teaching  vocation.  One  may  pursue  knowl- 
edge as  a  mere  end  in  itself  and  as  a  personal 

[00] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

and  even  selfish  enjoyment.  Scholarly  men 
of  wealth  and  leisure  may  devote  themselves 
to  the  gratification  of  their  literary  tastes  in 
a  spirit  of  detachment  and  aloofness  from 
any  practical  use  and  service.  The  minister, 
however,  while  enjoying  the  pursuit  of  knowl- 
edge as  an  intellectual  life,  also  acquires  it 
as  a  means  to  a  higher  end.  He  is  a  teacher 
and  he  gets  it  that  he  may  give  it.  Every 
sermon  is  instruction  and  he  is  constantly 
imparting  to  his  people  the  knowledge  he 
has  gained  in  all  his  studies. 

Such  use  of  knowledge,  like  mercy,  is  twice 
blessed:  ^^It  blesseth  him  that  gives  and  him 
that  takes."  Giving  knowledge  is  one  of  the 
most  effective  ways  of  getting  it.  When  we 
transfer  to  another  any  material  possession 
we  have  that  much  less  left.  But  this  is  not 
true  of  mental  possessions :  when  we  impart 
truth  to  another  we  do  not  have  less  in  our 
own  minds  but  more;  for  the  act  of  impart- 
ing truth  to  other  minds  clarifies  and  inten- 
sifies, broadens  and  deepens  it  in  our  own 
mind.    We  do  not  know  a  thing  clearly  and 

[56] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

firmly  until  we  tell  it ;  for  the  very  act  of  tell- 
ing it  requires  us  to  cast  it  in  the  sharp  molds 
of  definite  Avords  and  this  clears  it  of  con- 
fusion and  vagueness  and  gives  it  clean-cut 
outlines  and  edges.  "We  do  not  really  know 
more  than  we  can  say.  An  Armenian  student 
m  one  of  our  theological  seminaries,  who  was 
slow  in  the  use  of  English,  had  a  habit  of  say- 
ing in  answer  to  a  question,  *^  Professor,  I 
have  that  in  my  mind,  but  I  cannot  express 
if  One  day  the  question  was,  *'What  is  a 
vaciiuxaV^  and  after  meditating  a  moment  he 
answered,  ^^  Professor,  I  have  that  in  my 
mind,  but  I  cannot  express  it.''  When  we 
think  that  we  have  an  idea  which  we  can- 
not express,  we  probably  have  a  vacuum  in 
the  very  place  where  the  idea  is  supposed 
to  be. 

Because  the  teacher  is  constantly  forced  to 
explain  himself  in  definite  and  clear  terms  he 
is  learning  more  than  anyone  else  and  is  the 
best  scholar  in  the  class.  Every  time  he  goes 
over  a  lesson,  however  often  he  may  have 
done  so  and  however  familiar  it  may  be  to 

[57] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

him,  yet  he  understands  it  better,  gains  some 
new  insight  into  it,  and  catches  some  new 
angle  or  analogy  of  its  truth.  New  mental 
associations  cluster  around  it,  or  new  illus- 
trations flash  their  light  upon  it,  and  thus  he 
sees  it  more  clearly  and  feels  it  more  deeply 
and  his  mind  grows  and  glows  with  the  new 
experience. 

The  minister  in  teaching  others  is  also 
teaching  himself  and  gaining  broader  views 
and  fresh  illustrations  and  deeper  convic- 
tions in  the  very  act  of  preaching.  Every 
preacher  knows  how  his  own  sermon  while  in 
process  of  delivery  reacts  upon  his  mind  so 
as  to  vitalize  and  fertilize  it  and  cause  it  to 
sprout  and  bloom  with  thoughts  and  emotions 
that  may  be  a  surprise  and  wonder  to  himself. 
The  pulpit  may  thus  be  an  anvil  on  which  he 
forges  his  thoughts  at  white  heat  into  new 
and  finer  shapes ;  or  it  may  be  a  glowing  fur- 
nace in  which  the  materials  in  his  mind  are 
fused  into  unity  and  sent  out  in  molten 
streams  of  thought  and  emotion.  Ministers 
often  feel,  after  delivering  a  sermon  the  first 

[58] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

time,  that  they  can  make  a  much  better  ser- 
mon of  it  the  next  time:  the  reason  is  that 
by  imparting  its  truth  they  have  gained  a 
better  understanding  of  it  and  the  next  time 
they  can  pour  into  it  their  fresh  experience. 
While  teaching  others  they  have  taught  them- 
selves. The  minister  enjoys  this  privilege 
and  means  of  growth  in  personality  and 
power  in  a  high  degree,  and  it  is  one  of  the 
attractions  of  his  calling. 

But  teaching  is  also  a  privilege  and  joy  in 
that  it  imparts  truth  to  other  minds  and 
thereby  contributes  to  their  growth.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  see  anything  grow  and  it  is  a  joy 
to  have  a  part  in  cultivating  and  stimulating 
its  growth.  How  wonderful  is  the  process  by 
which  a  tiny  seed  becomes  a  blooming  plant 
or  a  strong  oak  or  a  giant  redwood  pushing 
its  croA\ai  up  three  or  four  hundred  feet  into 
the  sun ;  or  by  which  a  slow-crawling,  shaggy 
caterpillar  becomes  a  swift-winged,  gorgeous 
butterfly;  or  by  which  a  dainty,  fragile  egg 
becomes  a  beautiful  songbird:  for  all  the 
silken,  be  jeweled  wings  of  that  butterfly  were 

[59] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

packed  away  in  that  repulsive  caterpillar,  and 
all  the  sweet  music  of  that  songster  was  sleep- 
ing in  that  plain  shell.  Just  to  watch  such  a 
process  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  things 
in  nature. 

Even  more  wonderful  is  the  process  by 
which  the  human  mind  unfolds  from  uncon- 
scious infancy,  which  has  "never  thought 
that  this  is  I,'*  into  a  mature  mind  and  full- 
grown  personality  and  perhaps  the  philoso- 
pher's intellect  that  enables  him  to  weigh  the 
earth  and  unwrap  the  secrets  of  the  sun  and 
sift  the  stars  through  his  fingers.  To  watch 
this  process  and  especially  to  develop  and 
direct,  to  stimulate  and  inspire  it,  to  lead  and 
lure  it  on  into  new  fields  and  wider  horizons 
and  loftier  visions  and  thus  to  have  part  in 
cultivating  and  ripening  minds  into  maturity 
and  power  is  one  of  the  highest  privileges 
and  purest  joys  of  life.  This  is  the  special 
privilege  and  work  of  parents  in  the  home 
and  the  teacher  in  the  school  and  the  preacher 
in  the  pulpit. 

The  minister  is  doing  this  work  on  a  large 

[60] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

scale  as  lie  speaks  to  his  congTegation.  His 
sermons  and  addresses  cover  a  wide  field  of 
subjects  and  are  comparable  to  a  college  or 
university  course  of  lectures.  The  preacher 
addresses  the  same  general  audience  year 
after  year  and  thus  is  able  to  give  them  a  sys- 
tematic course  of  instruction  on  the  largest 
and  most  inspiring  themes.  He  is  often  the 
chief  educator  in  the  community  and  more 
than  any  other  man  in  it  guides  the  thinking 
and  molds  the  minds  of  his  people.  He  im- 
parts his  own  mental  processes,  his  clearness 
and  candor  and  honesty  of  thought,  to  them 
and  builds  himself  into  their  minds  so  that 
they  often  bear  the  conimon  stamp  of  his 
method  and  type  of  thought.  It  is  a  peculiar 
pleasure  he  enjoys  as  he  sees  his  people  grow 
and  advance  under  his  teaching.  No  teacher 
in  a  school  or  professor  in  a  college  or  uni- 
versity chair  has  a  greater  and  more  inspir- 
ing opportunity  to  educate  people  than  has 
the  preacher  in  his  pulpit,  and  this  privilege 
and  joy  is  one  of  the  attractions  of  his  call- 
ing. 

[61] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

A  Speaking  Vocation 
5.  In  the  same  line  the  ministry  has  the  at- 
traction of  being  a  speaking  vocation.  Truth 
may  be  imparted  and  minds  educated  through 
the  printed  page,  and  this  is  the  work  and 
joy  of  the  author.  But  there  is  a  special  joy 
in  imparting  truth  through  the  voice  to  a 
present,  visible  audience.  Speaking  is  an  ex- 
ercise that  arouses  the  speaker's  whole  per- 
sonality— physical,  mental,  emotional,  and 
spiritual.  Under  its  inspiration  the  heart 
beats  with  a  quicker  bound,  the  blood  rushes 
in  a  ruddy,  glowing  stream  through  the 
arteries  and  veins,  and  every  organ  and 
nerve  is  quickened  into  a  keener  and  fuller 
life.  The  mind  also  is  aroused  and  its  men- 
tal associations  come  flocking  around  the 
theme  under  discussion  and  pour  their  light 
upon  it,  the  logical  faculties  grow  more  alert 
to  see  relations,  and  thought  finds  readier 
and  more  forcible  expression  in  speech.  The 
emotions  are  kindled  and  begin  to  glow  and 
fuse  the  whole  soul  into  fervency  and  fire. 
The  imagination  spreads  its  wings  and  soars 

[62  2 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

to  loftier  heights  where  the  mind  can  see 
with  broader  vision  and  utter  more  eloquent 
speech  and  deliver  more  powerful  strokes  of 
thought.  The  will  arouses  its  energy  and 
mounts  into  mastery  and  bends  all  thought 
and  passion  and  speech  to  its  own  purpose. 
Speaker  and  audience  also  react  on  each 
other  and  put  fuel  on  each  other's  fire.  While 
the  speaker  magnetizes  the  audience,  the 
audience  inspires  the  speaker.  The  fire  in  his 
eyes  kindles  their  souls,  and  their  gleaming 
eyes  are  flaming  torches  to  his  soul.  His  elo- 
quence puts  a  kind  of  hypnotic  spell  upon 
them,  and  their  eager  faces  and  rapt  atten- 
tion excite  him  to  still  greater  efforts  and 
effects.  The  interest  and  especially  the  pas- 
sion of  speaker  and  audience  are  mutually 
contagious ;  they  catch  and  kindle  each  other's 
emotions.  A  great  orator  may  become  trans- 
figured before  his  audience  and  his  face  may 
shine  with  a  supernal  light,  as  did  the  face 
of  Moses.  Of  Daniel  Webster  it  is  recorded 
that  for  several  hours  after  his  great  oration 
at  the  dedication  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument 

[63] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

his  face  wore  an  indescribably  grand  expres- 
sion that  awed  those  who  came  into  his  pres- 
ence. 

The  orator  thus  rises  to  heights  of  thought 
and  emotion  that  he  never  could  attain  in  the 
calmness  and  coolness  of  private  study  and 
meditation.  By  a  process  of  electric  induc- 
tion the  audience  charges  him  with  power  by 
which  his  total  soul  down  to  its  unconscious 
deeps  is  aroused  into  action  and  he  tran- 
scends his  ordinary  ability  and  may  be  a 
revelation  and  wonder  to  himself. 

Such  an  experience  is  one  of  the  greatest 
triumphs  and  joys  of  the  human  soul.  The 
whole  soul  is  then  alive  and  alert  in  all  its 
powers  of  thought  and  passion  and  pours 
forth  its  total  self  in  a  flood  of  spontaneity 
and  abandon  as  a  bird  discharges  its  soul  in 
a  gush  of  song.  All  disharmony  in  the  soul 
is  unified,  all  distracting  and  troublous 
thoughts  and  feelings  are  submerged,  and  the 
soul  loses  itself  in  perfect  expression  and 
pure  joy.  This  is  probably  the  highest  state 
of  the  human  soul  and  it  is  only  approached 

[641 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MLNISTRY 

by  the  great  artist  in  the  act  of  giving  birth 
to  some  child  of  his  genius. 

Now  the  minister's  work  is  in  this  field. 
He  is  a  speaker,  and  two  or  three  times  a 
week  he  stands  before  an  audience  and  speaks 
to  them  face  to  face  and  soul  to  soul.  His 
audience  is  one  of  intelligence,  and  it  is  in- 
terested in  his  subject  and  has  some  general 
acquaintance  with  it.  It  understands  his  gen- 
eral line  of  reasoning  and  his  personal  pur- 
pose, and  it  is  quick  to  appreciate  his  good 
points,  and  is  also  able  and  keen  to  note  his 
defects.  His  audience  is  sympathetic,  it  usu- 
ally is  en  rapport  with  him  and  wants  and 
waits  to  be  instructed  and  stirred  to  action. 
It  waits  for  him  as  an  instrument  waits  for 
the  musician  to  sweep  its  keys  or  strings. 

On  the  whole.  Christian  people  furnish  the 
best  average  audience  that  could  be  gathered 
in  ^ts  community.  The  preacher  has  his 
chance  with  it,  and  if  he  has  any  spark  of 
the  oratoric  instinct  he  will  catch  and  hold 
its  attention  and  kindle  its  interest.  He 
may  not  be  a  great  orator  such  as  Beecher 

[  65  ] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

or  Spurgeon,  for  such  men  of  genius  are 
as  rare  in  the  pulpit  as  they  are  in  any 
other  field;  but  he  has  some  ability  as  a 
speaker  and  he  has  about  the  best  opportu- 
nity that  any  man  can  have  to  cultivate  the 
art  of  speaking  and  achieve  efficiency  if  not 
mastery  in  it.  With  themes  appealing  to 
human  souls  on  the  greatest  issues  of  time 
and  eternity,  he  can  arouse  himself  to  his 
fullest  power  and  fervency  and  he  can  arouse 
his  hearers  to  some  realization  of  the  mighty 
motives  that  should  move  them  to  Christian 
faith  and  action.  This  privilege  is  a  joy  com- 
pared with  which  many  of  the  pleasures  for 
which  other  men  pay  dearly  are  not  worthy 
to  be  considered,  and  this  will  ever  be  one  of 
the  highest  attractions  of  the  ministry. 

A  SouL-WiNNiNG  Vocation" 

6.  The  ministry  has  the  attraction  of  b^lng 
a  soul-winning  vocation.  Personal  interest 
in  a  work  makes  it  a  delight,  and  its  absence 
kills  enjoyment  and  turns  work  into  drudg- 
ery.    The  mere  artisan  may  be  set  to  tread 

[G6] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

the  round  of  some  mechanical  routine  in 
which  he  can  have  little  or  no  interest,  but 
the  artist  has  an  ideal  that  sets  his  soul  on 
fire  and  kindles  his  intense  interest  and  en- 
thusiasm. The  physician  in  a  considerable 
degree  has  this  interest  in  treating  a  patient, 
and  the  attorney  in  conducting  a  case.  The 
lawyer  in  addressing  a  jury  is  trying  not  sim- 
ply to  make  a  fine  speech  and  gain  applause, 
but  to  persuade  them  of  the  truth  and  jus- 
tice of  his  case ;  and  he  may  have  the  tremen- 
dous incentive  of  trying  to  save  his  client's 
life. 

The  minister  has  this  motive  of  personal 
interest  and  responsibility  in  the  highest  de- 
gree. He,  too,  is  trying  to  win  a  case  and 
heal  a  patient  and  save  a  soul.  His  aim  is 
the  practical  one  of  persuading  his  hearers 
of  their  lost  condition  in  sin  and  need  of  a 
Saviour  and  of  convincing  them  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  mighty  to  save.  This  practical  and 
immensely  responsible  aim  shapes  the  logic 
of  his  sermon  and  suffuses  it  with  fervency 
and  urgency  from  beginning  to  end.     He  is 

[67] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

not  rendering  a  performance  before  his  hear- 
ers for  their  entertainment  or  even  for  their 
instruction,  but  he  is  at  close  grips  with  them 
in  a  personal  contest  in  which  he  is  endeavor- 
ing by  every  means  in  his  power  to  enlighten 
their  minds,  remove  their  difficulties  and 
doubts,  conquer  their  prejudices,  break  up 
their  indifference,  break  down  their  opposi- 
tion, and  melt  and  move  them  to  faith  and 
action.  "When  he  succeeds  in  his  endeavor 
and  knows  that  he  has  led  souls  to  Christ,  he 
has  a  sense  of  holy  satisfaction  and  even  of 
triumph  which  is  like  that  of  the  physician 
who  has  delivered  a  patient  from  death,  or 
of  a  lawyer  who  has  secured  justice  for  his 
client  or  has  even  saved  his  life. 

The  minister  is  engaged  in  saving  souls  not 
only  in  his  preaching  but  also  in  his  more  pri- 
vate, personal  relations  with  his  people.  Je- 
sus not  only  preached  to  great  multitudes 
that  thronged  the  amphitheater  of  the  sea- 
shore or  the  mountain  side,  but  he  also  en- 
gaged in  private  interviews  with  solitary  in- 
dividuals, such  as  Nicodemus,  who  came  to 

[68] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

him  alone  by  night,  or  the  woman  with  whom 
he  talked  at  Jacob's  well.  With  him  a  single 
soul  was  a  great  audience.  We  do  not  read 
of  anyone 's  being  converted  by  his  public  ser- 
mons, but  in  these  personal  interviews  he  won 
his  individual  hearer  every  time.  The  min- 
ister is  carrying  on  this  private  work,  as  he 
gets  into  close,  sympathetic  touch  w^ith  indi- 
viduals and  by  his  personal  influence  and 
tactful,  tender  words  leads  them  to  Christ. 
This  personal  work  is  often  the  most  effective 
means  of  gathering  souls  into  the  Kingdom; 
and  such  converts  are  usually  the  most  stable, 
as  hand-picked  apples  are  always  the  best. 

The  minister's  office  also  includes  the  work 
of  guiding  and  developing  his  people  in  their 
growth  in  Christian  character  and  conduct; 
and  in  sustaining  and  comforting  them  in  all 
the  circumstances,  temptations,  trials,  and 
sorrows  of  life.  This  brings  him  into  the 
most  intimate,  confidential  relations  with 
them  in  both  their  joys  and  their  sorrows 
and  binds  them  to  his  heart  with  the  strong- 
est and  most  tender  ties.    As  ''friendship  is 

[69] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

three  fourths  of  life/'  the  minister  has  op- 
portunities enjoyed  by  few  other  men  of 
forming  precious  friendships  that  are  among 
his  greatest  treasures  and  richest  joys. 

There  is  a  peculiar  joy  in  winning  and  help- 
ing souls  that  rises  far  above  the  mere  satis- 
faction of  success  in  one's  work.  It  was  for 
this  joy  that  was  set  before  him  that  Jesus 
'^endured  the  cross,  despising  shame'';  and 
his  ministers  in  following  him  may  go  forth 
with  weeping,  sowing  precious  seed,  but  they 
also  shall  return  with  rejoicing,  bringing 
their  sheaves  with  them.  He  that  is  wise 
winneth  souls,  and  they  that  turn  many  to 
righteousness  shall  shine  ^'as  the  stars  for 
ever  and  ever."  Such  joy  should  surpass 
that  of  the  artist  in  carving  marble  or  paint- 
ing pictures,  for  the  minister  is  an  artist  and 
creator  working  in  the  imperishable  material 
of  the  human  soul. 

Building  a  Brotheehood 

7.  The  ministry  has  the  attraction  of  being 
engaged  in  the  work  of  building  the  brother- 

[70] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

hood  of  the  Christian  Church.  Conversion 
is  only  the  first  step  in  salvation,  which 
covers  the  whole  growth  and  fruitage  of  the 
Christian  life.  And  so  the  minister  is  not 
done  with  converts  when  he  has  preached 
them  through  the  door  of  conversion  into  the 
Church;  rather  his  work  has  only  begun.  He 
is  to  build  them  up  in  salvation  and  service 
into  a  full-grown  Christian  life ;  and  he  is  to 
build  them  together  into  the  brotherhood  of 
the  Church.  Building  the  Church  was  a 
fundamental  fact  in  the  teaching  and  purpose 
of  Jesus.  ''I  w^ill  build  my  church,''  he  de- 
clared. Paul  was  constantly  insisting  on 
building  believers  into  a  temple  and  into  the 
body  of  Christ  and  into  brotherhood.  All  the 
saints  are  to  be  ^' fitly  framed  together"  as 
polished  stones  which  thus  grow  ' '  into  a  holy 
temple  in  the  Lord;  in  whom  ye  also  are 
builded  together  for  a  habitation  of  God  in 
the  Spirit.''  ^^Seek  that  ye  may  abound  in 
the  work  of  building  up."  *' Brethren"  is  a 
common  title  with  which  Paul  addresses  be- 
lievers.   ^'Love  the  brotherhood"  is  the  ad- 

[71] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

monition  of  Peter,  and  the  brotherhood  of 
believers  in  Christ  is  the  central  fact  in  the 
New  Testament  idea  of  the  Church. 

The  minister  is  the  architect  and  master 
builder  in  this  work.  He  supplies  the  plans 
and  specifications  out  of  the  Word  of  God 
and  the  perfect  Pattern  in  the  person  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  he  is  to  guide  and  inspire 
his  people  so  as  to  eliminate  divided  plans 
and  purposes,  waste  and  friction,  and  fit  his 
people  together  with  close  joints  and  cement 
them  into  solid  union  with  love,  and  thus 
build  them  into  unity  and  brotherhood,  a  tem- 
ple of  the  Holy  Spirit  full  of  truth  and  light. 

One  of  the  dangers  of  the  pulpit  is  that  the 
minister  may  think  that  his  main  business 
and  the  measure  of  his  success  is  just  to 
preach  striking  and  brilliant  sermons  and 
draw  an  audience.  He  is  apt  to  measure  him- 
self and  be  measured  by  others  by  the  size 
of  his  crowd.  lie  is  then  tempted  to  count 
his  hearers  instead  of  considering  their 
Christian  character  and  spirit.  This  is  a  fal- 
lacious standard  and  a  false  aim.    *^An  audi- 

[72] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

ence/'  says  Dr.  Charles  E.  Jefferson,  in  his 
book  on  ^^The  Building  of  the  Church, '^  ^4s 
not  worth  working  for.  An  audience  is  a  set 
of  unrelated  people  drawn  together  by  a 
short-lived  attraction,  an  agglomeration  of 
individuals  finding  themselves  together  for  a 
brief  time.  It  is  a  fortuitous  concourse  of 
human  atoms,  scattering  as  soon  as  a  certain 
performance  is  ended.  It  is  a  pile  of  leaves 
to  be  blown  away  by  the  wind,  a  handful  of 
sand  lacking  consistency  and  cohesion,  a  num- 
ber of  human  filings  drawn  into  position  by 
a  pulpit  magnet,  and  which  will  drop  away 
as  soon  as  the  magnet  is  removed.  An  audi- 
ence is  a  crowd,  a  church  is  a  family.'^  A 
crowd  can  make  an  audience,  but  only  Chris- 
tians can  make  a  church.  Jesus  did  not  care 
for  crowds  and  rather  avoided  them,  and 
there  is  no  record  that  when  he  preached  to 
crowds  he  got  a  single  soul,  but  when  he 
talked  with  Nicodemus  or  with  the  woman  of 
Samaria  he  got  that  one.  He  was  not  seek- 
ing io  attract  a  throng,  but  was  building  n 
bi'othorliood. 

[73] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

If  the  minister  should  think  of  his  church 
as  a  brotherhood,  it  is  equally  important  that 
the  church  also  should  think  of  itself  under 
this  concept.  Very  suggestive  and  subtle  is 
the  influence  of  a  name  as  it  insinuates  its 
meaning  into  the  consciousness  of  those  who 
use  it.  If  a  church  thinks  of  itself  as  the 
wealthiest  and  most  important  church  in  the 
town  or  city  it  may  next  think  of  itself  as  a 
social  club  and  then  it  will  insensibly  be  based 
upon  and  governed  by  the  artificial  distinc- 
tions and  conventional  rules  of  a  social  club. 
It  will  then  have  doors  constructed  o£  wire 
netting  that  will  sift  out  its  members  and  let 
in  only  those  that  belong  to  its  social  class, 
and  when  others  get  in  through  the  wires  they 
will  be  made  to  feel  in  subtle  ways  or  be  told 
in  brusque  terms  that  they  are  not  wanted; 
and  very  likely  it  will  have  members  that  do 
not  know  one  another  and  do  not  want  to, 
and  other  members  tliat  do  know  one  another 
and  are  sorry  that  they  do.  But  if  a  church 
thinks  of  itself  as  a  brotherhood  and  really 
cherishes  this  idea,  the  caste  spirit  will  be 

[74] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MLNISTRY 

cleared  out  of  its  consciousness  and  it  will 
grow  toward  this  ideal. 

Now  it  is  the  business  oi'  the  minister  to 
set  up  this  ideal  and  strive  to  realize  it.  To 
knit  his  congregation  into  a  family,  to  build 
his  church  with  all  its  open  or  hidden  fac- 
tions and  social  distinctions  and  childish 
alienations  and  petty  meannesses  into  a 
brotherhood  of  mutual  unselfishness  and  har- 
mony and  love,  is  a  hard  task,  calling  for 
infinite  tact  and  patience  and  love,  but  it  is 
the  true  mission  and  measure  of  a  minister. 
If  he  is  simply  delivering  brilliant  sermons 
and  attracting  crowds  he  may  flatter  himself 
and  be  flattered  by  his  members  as  a  great 
preacher,  but  he  may  be  only  sounding  brass 
and  a  tinkling  cymbal  and  may  be  really  only 
playing  an  actor  ^s  part  and  be  guilty  of  folly. 
He  is  a  great  preacher  who  can  attract  large 
numbers  of  people  to  Christ  and  make  them 
brothers  in  him.  To  stand  in  the  center  of 
a  congregation  and  knit  it  into  fine  and  strong 
brotherhood  by  filaments  that  are  spun  from 
his  own  soul,  and  vitalize  it  by  arteries  that 

[75] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

run  from  liis  own  heart  is  the  true  work  and 
the  rare  privilege  of  a  minister,  and  it  is  one 
of  the  great  attractions  of  his  calling. 

The  Salvation  of  Society 
8.  The  ministry  has  the  attraction  of  being 
a  much  broader  work  than  the  salvation  of 
the  individual  soul  and  building  the  individ- 
ual church:  it  widens  beyond  the  church 
walls  into  the  salvation  of  society.  The  indi- 
vidual is  the  unit  of  society,  and  personal  sal- 
vation is  the  primary  work  of  the  minister. 
All  life  starts  with  a  cell,  and  the  soul  is  the 
cell  of  society  and  of  the  world.  But  life  also 
builds  its  cells  into  an  organism  and  out  of 
the  organism  generates  cells.  The  two  as- 
pects of  salvation,  the  individual  and  the 
social,  are  never  to  be  put  into  competition, 
as  though  either  were  antagonistic  to  the 
other.  The  two  are  complementary  and  must 
go  together  as  must  the  center  and  the  circle, 
the  seed  and  the  fruit,  the  leaven  and  the 
whole  lump.  The  minister,  while  placing  the 
center  of  his  circle  in  the  individual  soul,  also 

[76] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

Irom  this  center  sweeps  the  whole  horizon 
and  encircles  the  globe.  He  is  not  simply 
saving-  individual  units  but  organized  units, 
he  is  building  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 
world. 

Formerly  the  Church  was  too  individual- 
istic and  self-contained,  largely  shut  up 
within  its  ovna.  walls  and  saving  its  o^Yll  mem- 
bers and  children,  conserving  its  orthodoxy 
and  respectability,  with  little  conscience  or 
consciousness  as  to  the  great  w^orld  with  all 
its  social  problems  and  perils  surging  around 
its  doors. 

Jesus,  while  he  preached  and  applied  an 
individualistic  gospel,  as.  to  Nicodemus  and 
the  woman  of  Samaria,  also  preached  and 
applied  a  broadly  social  gospel.  He  was 
transfigured  on  the  mountain  until  he  was 
steeped  in  splendor  and  the  disciples  were 
entranced  and  wanted  to  stay.  But  that  was 
no  place  to  stay.  Jesus  quickly  hurried  down 
to  the  plain  where  was  a  poor  demoniac  boy 
to  be  healed  and  many  troubled  folk  to  be 
helped  and  much  work  to  be  done.    He  turned 

[77] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

that  great  white  splendor  on  the  mountain 
top,  that  was  not  for  the  private  delectation 
of  his  disciples  or  for  his  own  exaltation,  into 
a  shining  stream  of  mercy  to  heal  and  bless 
the  social  world,  even  as  mountains  transmute 
the  great  glaciers  and  dazzling  snowdrifts  on 
their  summits  into  rivulets  and  rivers  that 
sow  wheat  fields  and  orchards  out  over  the 
plain  and  make  them  blossom  as  the  rose. 

Jesus  applied  his  principles  and  spirit  to 
all  the.  social  problems  of  his  day :  to  politics 
and  taxes,  poverty  and  wealth,  to  employer 
and  employee,  to  strikes  and  lockouts,  to  pub- 
lic and  private  morals.  The  parable  of  the 
Good  Samaritan  is  the  social  gospel  and  so 
is  The  Lord's  Praj^r  and  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount.  The  whole  Bible,  from  Genesis  to 
Eevelation,  is  full  of  the  social  gospel.  The 
prophets  were  great  preachers  of  it  and  dealt 
with  the  very  same  problems  in  Judea  that 
we  have  to-day  in  America  and  Europe. 

The  minister  of  to-day  is  called  to  the  same 
work  in  his  community,  and  this  field  is  now 
opening  out  before  him  in  many  ways.     He 

[78] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

no  longer  stands  in  his  pulpit  preaching  a 
denominational  theology  and  self -regarding 
message  to  his  people:  he  is  a  minister  or 
servant  of  the  community  and  his  pulpit  is 
only  a  vantage  ground  and  point  of  outlook 
whence  he  surveys  the  whole  social  complex, 
and  mystic  chords  connect  him  like  sensitive 
feelers  and  vital  nerves  with  every  aspect 
and  problem  and  peril  of  this  field.  He  sees 
whether  the  young  people  in  his  community 
have  adequate  and  proper  places  and  means 
of  social  recreation  and  companionship; 
whether  there  are  dens  of  iniquity  with  their 
bottom  in  hell  that  are  luring  them  to  danger 
and  destruction ;  whether  the  streets  are  sani- 
tary, and  the  jails  decent,  and  the  schools  well 
housed  and  equipped  with  proper  appliances 
and  competent  teachers,  and  the  hospitals  in 
good  condition  and  amply  sustained.  Of 
course  he  is  not  only  on  friendly  terms  but 
in  active  cooperation  with  all  other  Christian 
churches.  He  is  a  friend  and  helper  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  and  the  Sal- 
vation Army  and  of  every  worthy  means  of 

[79] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

social  welfare.  He  may  found  and  build  a 
community  house  or  club  or  public  library  or 
men's  or  boys'  organization  that  will  be  a 
new  center  of  social  life  in  the  community. 
Many  a  minister  has  thus  revolutionized  his 
town  and  neighborhood.  He  knows  the  police- 
man on  his  beat  and  the  letter  carrier  on  his 
route.  He  is  hand  in  hand  with  business  men 
on  the  one  side  and  equally  so  with  laboring 
men  on  the  other,  having  the  confidence  and 
good  will  of  both  and  seeking  in  every  prac- 
tical way  to  mediate  between  these  classes 
and  to  secure  and  maintain  mutual  justice 
and  brotherhood  among  them.  He  is  a  citi- 
zen as  well  as  a  minister,  interested  in  politics 
without  being  a  partisan  and  preaching  its 
essential  principles  and  duties.  "Without 
being  an  offensive  agitator  he  is  yet  in  the 
foreground  or  at  least  in  the  background  of 
every  work  and  movement  of  reform  iA  his 
community.  At  times  he  may  boldly  attack 
social  evils  in  low  or  in  high  places  and  drive 
men  out  of  iniquitous  business  as  Jesus  drove 
the  thieves  and  robbers  out  of  the  Temple. 

[80] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

Perhaps  he  must  even  take  his  ministerial 
life  in  his  hands  and  be  crucified  on  a  cross 
as  the  price  of  his  devotion  to  civic  duty.  He 
is  to  be  preeminently  the  salt  and  the  light 
of  his  community,  a  living  gospel  bound  up 
in  flesh  and  blood,  read  and  known  of  all  men. 

The  minister  is  no  longer  an  isolated  and 
peculiar  man,  shut  up  within  his  o^vn  narrow 
calling  or  monkish  cell,  separated  and  aloof 
from  his  fellow  men  by  his  clerical  garb  and 
odor  of  sanctity,  but  he  is  emphatically  a  man 
among  men,  a  man's  man,  being  all  things  to 
all  men,  bone  of  their  bone  and  flesh  of  their 
flesh,  an  altogether  human  being  of  good  fel- 
lowship and  humor,  sweetness  and  light,  bind- 
ing himself  by  ties  of  kindly  interest  and  sym- 
pathy to  everyone  in  his  community  of  what- 
ever class  or  condition  and  endeavoring  to 
lead  all  into  the  common  life  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God. 

John  saw  the  golden  city  coming  down  out 
of  heaven  to  earth  with  its  twelve  gates,  open 
on  every  side  day  and  night,  opening  inward 
to  the  vision  and  fellowship  of  the  glorified 

[81] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

Christ  and  then  swinging  outward  into  paths 
of  service  that  run  in  every  direction  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  "We  have  been  thinking 
too  exclusively  of  that  city  as  being  located 
in  the  glory  land  above ;  but  we  are  also  build- 
ing a  copy  of  it  down  on  this  earth.  Already 
its  jeweled  walls  and  gates  are  rising  around 
our  horizon  and  we  are  laying  its  golden 
pavements  right  under  our  feet.  This  is  the 
meaning  of  all  worship  and  work,  sanitation, 
education,  social  and  civic  reform,  home  mis- 
sions and  foreign  missions,  national  and  in- 
ternational affairs.  This  is  the  minister's 
mission  and  program,  and  n6  grander  call 
and  opportunity  now  appeals  to  men.  It 
should  draw  young  men  with  a  great  attrac- 
tion. 

Establishing  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 
World 

9.  There  is  a  still  wider  attraction  at  this 
point.  The  writer  has  already  referred  to 
foreign  missions,  and  this  work  opens  our 
vision  into  the  Kingdom  of  God  as  it  sweeps 

[82] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

its  horizon  beyond  our  local  community  out 
across  the  country  and  continent  around  the 
world.  The  minister  is  committed  to  this 
work  also.  His  pulpit  can  be  no  local  and 
cramped  field  and  opportunity,  but  it  is  as 
big  as  the  globe,  and  he  is  a  true  cosmopolite, 
a  citizen  of  the  world.  The  little  arc  of  his 
pulpit,  after  all,  is  a  great  circle  and  runs 
around  the  equator.  He  is  just  as  near  to 
the  center  of  the  earth  and  to  the  stars,  stand- 
ing in  his  pulpit,  however  obscure  it  may  be, 
as  he  would  be  if  he  were  in  a  conspicuous 
pulpit  in  New  York  or  London.  He  is  thus 
a  man  of  planetary  proportions  and  power. 
He  is  helping  to  shape  the  moral  and  polit- 
ical, educational  and  social,  and  the  religious 
and  spiritual  life  of  the  country ;  and  through 
the  agencies  of  foreign  missions  he  is  reach- 
ing his  hands  around  the  globe  and  helping 
to  lift  and  roll  it  into  the  light  and  love  of 
God.  The  touch  of  his  hand  and  the  thrill  of 
his  voice  really  reach  every  human  being  on 
the  earth :  for  humanity  is  one  web  or  a  vital, 
sensitive  organism,  so  that  whatever  touches 

[83] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

it  at  one  point  is  propagated  through  the 
whole  vast  body.  No  other  man  is  handling 
such  a  big  business  as  the  minister.  We  are 
always  impressed  with  the  statement  that  the 
sun  never  sets  on  the  British  Empire;  yet 
this  empire  is  only  a  few  red  patches  on  the 
map,  while  the  Kingdom  of  God  encircles  the 
globe  around  the  equator  and  from  pole  to 
pole,  and  the  Christian  minister  is  ever  pre- 
senting this  business  to  his  people  and  in- 
structing and  inspiring  them  in  it.  He  is  in 
touch  with  the  geography  of  all  continents 
and  islands;  he  knows  something  of  their 
lands  and  languages,  races  and  customs,  gov- 
ernments and  religions.  His  brain  is  a  tele- 
graphic or  telephonic  exchange  where  mes- 
sages arrive  from  and  go  out  to  all  the  earth. 
He  has  a  vision  of  a  world  redeemed  and 
unified  in  common  brotherhood,  peace,  and 
prosperity.  He  is  laboring  to  build  the  true 
League  of  Nations,  which  will  never  be  real- 
ized as  the  prophets  foresaw  it  and  the  poets 
dreamed  it  as  ^'the  Parliament  of  man,  the 
Federation  of  the  world"  until  it  comes  un- 

[84] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

der  the  rule  of  Him  whose  right  it  is  to  reign, 
and  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  *^  become  the 
kingdom  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his  Christ." 
This  inspiring,  world-wide  work  is  a  splendid 
attraction  of  the  ministry,  and  young  men  of 
vision  and  courage  should  leap  to  its  call  and 
opportunity. 

Leadership 
10.  At  this  point  the  writer  wishes  to  em- 
phasize specially  as  one  of  the  attractions  of 
the  ministry  the  fact  of  its  leadership.  Lead- 
ership is  one  of  the  most  powerful  magnets 
that  attract  men  in  all  fields.  In  science,  lit- 
erature, and  art,  and  especially  in  business, 
government,  and  war,  men  aspire  to  rise  to 
positions  where  they  are  intrusted  with  great 
responsibilities  and  command  or  lead  others. 
In  every  city  and  village  men  are  measured 
by  public  opinion  very  much  by  the  degree 
of  prominence  and  leadership  which  they  at- 
tain; and  as  a  rough,  external  standard  the 
measurement  is  approximately  correct.  It  is 
also  a  true,  human  instinct  which  prompts 
men  to  aspire  to  and  to  appreciate  and  re- 

[85] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

joice  in  such  leadership,  provided  it  is  not 
unworthily  gained  and  used. 

The  minister  steps  almost  at  once  into  such 
a  position,  and  if  he  proves  competent  and 
worthy  he  grows  in  it  until  very  often  he  be- 
comes the  most  influential  man  in  his  com- 
munity or  even  in  a  large  city.  He  is  a  leader 
of  his  people  in  thought,  as  he  molds  them 
into  his  way  of  thinlving  and  often  guides 
them  to  his  own  conclusions.  He  is  a  leader 
in  planning  and  carrying  out  all  the  activi- 
ties of  his  church.  He  is  a  leader  in  the  life 
of  his  community,  as  he  holds  up  civic  and 
ethical  and  religious  ideals  and  builds  them 
into  its  social  structure.  He  is  a  leader  in 
great  crises  of  thought  and  life  when  momen- 
tous questions  of  faith  or  government  or  na- 
tional affairs  or  war  come  up  for  practical 
decision.  And  he  is  a  leader  in  the  broad  field 
of  the  nation  and  the  world,  as  he  shapes  pro- 
grams and  pushes  campaigns  in  home  and 
foreign  missionary  work.  No  business  man 
or  lawyer  or  civic  officer  or  statesman  is 
handling  plans  and  programs  of  more  far- 

[  86  ] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

reaching  scope  and  influence,  no  other  man  in 
the  ordinary  places  of  life  has  such  lines  of 
leadership  committed  to  his  hands.  The  min- 
ister comes  to  feel  the  dignity  and  honor  and 
the  magnitude  and  significance  of  the  inter- 
ests he  is  guiding,  and  this  position  of  re- 
sponsibility and  leadership  is  a  worthy  at- 
traction of  his  calling. 

Heeoism 

11.  In  the  same  line  the  ministry  has  the 
attraction  of  heroism.  Men  crave  the  adven- 
turous, they  hunger  for  the  heroic.  A  life  of 
undisturbed  security  and  ease  and  pleasure 
soon  loses  its  relish  and  then  palls  upon  and 
satiates  all  the  senses.  An  American  mil- 
lionaire, recently  deceased,  once  made  a  pa- 
thetic plaint.  He  was  never  destined  to  be 
quite  happy,  he  said,  because  his  inherited 
wealth  destroyed  the  necessity  for  and  in- 
centive to  action  and  killed  ambition.  From 
such  a  life  men  will  break  away  and  answer 
the  call  of  the  wild  that  they  may  rough  it  in 
the  forest  or  wilderness  or  on  the  sea,  or  that 

[87] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

they  may  climb  the  most  dangerous  moun- 
tain tops  or  conquer  the  icy  caps  of  the  globe. 
Men  cannot  stand  it  to  be  coddled  in  comfort  :l 
they  instinctively  and  imperiously  crave  ad-i 
venture  and  danger,  fortitude  and  valor.  One! 
of  the  attractions  of  war  is  the  very  re- 
lief from  the  security  and  comforts  of 
peace  which  it  brings  and  the  tremendous 
hazards  and  splendid  heroism  with  which  it 
abounds. 

The  ministry,  far  from  being  immune  from 
hardship  and  swathed  in  comfort,  as  some 
people  may  think  it  is  and  as  some  ministers 
may  even  try  to  make  it,  is  really  a  heroic 
calling.  It  ordinarily  has  enough  physical 
trials  to  call  for  some  grit  as  well  as  grace. 
It  demands  great  patience  and  courage  in 
dealing  with  many  of  its  problems,  especially 
as  they  are  rendered  complicated  and  vexa- 
tious by  the  irritation  and  opposition  of 
petty-minded  and  unreasonable  people  that 
so  pestered  Paul  and  have  not  yet  learned  to 
leave  the  preacher  alone.  The  minister's 
very  program  calls  for  heroism.    It  is  often 

[88] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

an  arduous  and  adventurous  one  as  he  tries 
to  build  up  a  divided,  visionless  church  into 
unity  and  service,  or  tries  to  reform  and 
transform  a  backward  community  or  city. 
His  program  looks  impossible  when  he  puts 
it  up  against  the  terribly  disjointed,  sin- 
stricken  world.  But  the  impossible  is  our 
challenge  and  opportunity,  an  occasion  to 
measure  ourselves  with  splendid  insolence 
and  defiant  audacity  against  every  opposing 
force.  It  may  inspire  us  with  such  faith  and 
bravery  and  resolution  as  are  the  highest 
heroism.  Jesus  Christ  was  the  most  superbly 
heroic  figure  of  all  the  ages,  as  he  faced  sol- 
diers at  the  Garden  gate  so  calmly  and  ma- 
jestically that  they  went  backward  and  fell 
upon  the  ground,  and  then  with  equal  calm- 
ness and  courage  went  to  his  cross  and  then 
dared  to  close  and  crown  all  his  teaching  with 
the  sublime  declaration:  ^*A11  authority  hath 
been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on  earth. 
Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the 
nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the 
Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit : 

[89] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

teaching  them  to  do  all  things  whatsoever  I 
commanded  you:  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  al- 
ways, even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

Paul  followed  in  the  same  path  of  heroism 
when  he  stepped  from  Asia  to  Europe  and 
dared  to  preach  the  gospel  of  the  resurrec- 
tion in  skeptical  Athens,  and  then  was  not 
ashamed  to  preach  it  in  Rome  also,  for  it  was 
everywhere  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation. 
Martyrs  caught  up  the  same  torch  of  the  light 
of  the  world  and  carried  it  forward. 

"A  noble  army,  men  and  boys, 
The  matron  and  the  maid. 
Around  the  Saviour's  throne  rejoice, 

In  robes  of  light  arrayed: 
They  climbed  the  steep  ascent  of  heaven 

Through  peril,  toil,  and  pain: 
0  God,  to  us  may  gi'ace  be  given 
To  follow  in  their  train." 

Seizing  the  same  banner  of  the  gospel,  the 
minister  dares  to  set  his  feet  undaunted  in 
the  same  perilous  path,  follow  the  same  im- 
possible program  and  go  with  Christ  toward 
the  same  vision  and  victory  that  overcometh 
the  world.    Jesus  came  to  bring,  not  peace, 

[90] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

but  a  sword,  and  wherever  lie  has  gone  there 
has  been  a  fight;  a  fight  against  slavery, 
against  the  degradation  of  woman,  against 
the  liquor  traffic,  against  all  the  hosts  of 
wickedness,  and  the  Christian  ministry  will 
be  a  war  to  the  end.  In  such  a  campaign  the 
minister  will  never  have  reason  to  complain 
that  he  lacks  the  incentive  of  adventure  and 
heroic  bravery,  for  he  will  ever  be  called  upon 
to  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith  and  carry  the 
cross  while  he  wins  the  crown. 

A  Great  Fellowship 

12.  The  ministry  has  the  attraction  of  a 
great  fellowship.  Every  vocation  has  the  fel- 
lowship of  those  engaged  in  it,  and  this  is  a 
strong  bond  of  union  and  means  of  encour- 
agement and  may  be  a  source  of  great  honor 
and  pride.  Laboring  men  have  their  unions 
and  are  generally  loyal  to  them  and  often 
glory  in  them.  Business  men,  lawyers,  phy- 
sicians, scientists,  educators,  all  have  their 
associations  by  which  they  promote  their 
mutual  interests  and  advance  their  objectives. 

[91] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

The  Christian  minister  belongs  to  one  of  the 
oldest  and  most  honorable  associations  in  the 
world.  It  dates  back  to  Hebrew  prophets  and 
to  Christ  and  his  disciples  and  has  come  down 
through  apostles,  martyrs,  missionaries,  re- 
formers, theologians,  and  preachers,  who 
have  helped  to  shape  the  Christian  centuries ; 
and  it  stands  to-day  as  one  of  the  strongest 
organizations  and  finest  fellowships  among 
men. 

It  is  true  that  the  ministry  has  its  share  of 
unworthy  members  who  have  cast  discredit 
and  even  dishonor  on  their  calling,  but  this 
fact  has  not  lowered  its  essential  nature  and 
level.  There  are  dishonorable  members  in 
every  profession,  black  sheep  in  every  flock. 
But  as  a  class,  ministers  stand  high  in  the 
estimation  of  the  world,  and  of  their  calling 
they  may  be  justly  proud. 

And  now,  if  men  gather  strength  and  in- 
spiration from  their  membership  in  a  labor 
union  or  in  a  professional  association,  if  they 
thrill  with  pride  in  their  membership  in  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Eepublic  and  glory  in  the 

[92] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

American  Legion,  shall  not  the  minister  swell 
with  some  sense  of  pride  as  he  realizes  his 
membership  in  the  noble  army  of  those  who 
through  all  the  ages  have  proclaimed  the  gos- 
pel of  the  Son  of  God  and  have  fought  the 
good  fight  of  faith  against  spiritual  hosts  of 
wickedness?  The  minister  enjoys  a  rare 
privilege  in  the  fellowship  of  his  brethren, 
for  they  are  men  of  pure  hearts  and  purposes 
and  of  optimistic  faith  and  good  cheer,  who 
probably  have  a  happier  time  together  than 
any  other  class  of  men ;  and  he  also  feels  the 
mystic  ties  that  bind  him  to  all  the  men 
through  all  the  ages  of  the  spiritual  fellow- 
ship to  which  he  belongs,  so  that  he  can  re- 
peat, with  a  fullness  of  meaning  that  few  men 
can  appreciate,  the  worn  but  wonderful 
words,  *^I  believe  in  the  holy  Catholic 
Church;  the  communion  of  saints. '*  Every 
minister  in  a  measure  is  uplifted  and 
strengthened  and  inspired  and  made  a  more 
honorable  and  a  greater  man  by  this  fellow- 
ship, and  this  is  one  of  the  attractions  of  his 
calling. 

[93] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

COWOEKING  WITH   GoD  AND   ChEIST 

13.  But  the  ministry  lias  the  attraction  of 
an  infinitely  greater  fellowship :  the  minister 
is  a  coworker  with  God  and  a  fellow  worker 
with  Christ.  ' '  We  are  God 's  fellow-workers, '  ^ 
said  Paul;  and  Jesus  said,  ^*My  Father  work- 
eth  even  until  now,  and  I  work,'*  meaning 
that  God  is  ever  at  work.  Medieval  artists 
painted  God  as  resting  at  ease  on  a  gorgeous 
couch  amidst  golden  clouds,  and  we  have  not 
yet  gotten  altogether  rid  of  the  impression 
that  God,  having  finished  his  creation,  has 
nothing  to  do.  Work  is  an  unpleasant  sug- 
gestion to  us  and  we  think  that  it  must  be  a 
degradation  to  God.  But  God  is  a  laborer 
now  as  much  as  he  was  in  the  beginning.  The 
heavens  are  still  his  mighty  workshop  in 
which  suns  are  flying  off  the  anvil  of  his  crea- 
tion like  sparks  of  fire.  And  he  is  equally 
still  at  work  in  the  human  world,  indwelling 
in  the  minds  of  men,  immanent  in  all  human 
history  and  activities  and  working  out  his 
eternal  plan  and  purpose.  So  also  Christ  is 
still  working  in  the  world  through  his  Spirit 

[94] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

and  disciples  and  Cliurch  and  all  the  channels 
and  agencies  of  providence  as  he  is  building 
his  Kingdom  among  men.  All  men  live  and 
move  and  have  their  being  in  the  immanent 
God,  who  is  present  and  active  in  every  opera- 
tion of  nature  and  event  of  our  human  world. 
The  minister  in  a  special  sense  is  cowork- 
ing  with  God  and  Christ  in  the  service  of 
preaching  the  gospel  and  building  the  King- 
dom of  heaven  in  the  hearts  of  men.  His 
mission  has  been  planned  and  his  message 
shaped  for  him  in  the  divine  mind,  and  in  a 
sense  he  is  the  voice  of  God  speaking  to  men, 
and  the  hands  and  feet  of  Christ  doing  his 
work  among  men;  doing  not  only  the  same, 
but  greater  works  than  Jesus  himself  did, 
because  he  lives  in  a  greater  world,  more 
unified  and  open  and  responsive  to  the  gos- 
pel message.  The  minister  is  the  ambassador 
of  God,  as  though  God  did  beseech  men 
through  him,  however  imperfectly  and  un- 
worthily he  may  fulfill  this  office.  The 
preacher  is  a  prophet  of  God,  the  divinely 
appointed  successor  of  the  ancient  Hebrew 

[95] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

prophets  and  Christian  apostles,  who  stands 
in  Christ's  place  and  speaks  in  God's  name. 
He  sees  all  things  in  a  divine  light  and  applies 
eternal  principles  to  temporal  conditions. 
The  prophet  has  ever  been  the  foremost  and 
most  important  man  in  the  world,  standing 
above  the  world  and  judging  righteous  judg- 
ment based  upon  eternal  standards  and  ex- 
alting inner  worth  above  outer  wealth  and 
the  spirit  above  the  flesh,  and  the  Christian 
minister  is  the  prophet  of  to-day.  He  stands 
with  his  hands  joined  to  God's  hands  and  is 
a  fellow  laborer  with  him  in  all  his  work.  It 
is  because  of  this  divine  partnership  that  the 
minister  knows  that  the  gospel  is  the  dyna- 
mite of  God  unto  salvation.  Sin  can  never 
be  cleansed  from  human  souls  by  sociology 
or  science,  education  or  art,  however  valuable 
these  and  other  like  human  agencies  may  be 
as  aids  in  this  work.  Only  the  Spirit  of  God 
can  eradicate  this  terrible  malady.  The  min- 
ister has  the  assurance  that  God  in  Christ  is 
working  with  him  to  give  saving  efficacy  to 
the  truth  he  preaches.    The  very  idea  of  such 

[96] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

a  gigantic  task  as  the  redemption  of  this 
world  staggering  under  all  its  weight  of  sin 
and  woe  would  overwhelm  and  crush  him 
were  it  not  for  his  faith  that  it  is  God's  work 
and  he  will  carry  it  through.  If  God  be  with 
the  minister,  who  can  be  against  him!  No 
other  man  in  a  greater  or  possibly  in  an  equal 
degree  has  this  supreme  assurance  and  at- 
traction in  his  life  work. 

Geeat  and  Fine  Eewakds 

14.  Finally,  the  ministry  has  the  attraction 
of  great  and  fine  rewards.  There  are  two 
kinds  of  reward  in  life,  external  and  inter- 
nal. External  rewards,  such  as  wages  and 
wealth,  are  the  end — ^product  and  remunera- 
tion of  service  and  stand  apart  from  the 
service  itself.  Men  are  usually  most  eager 
for  these  material  rewards,  and  the  division 
of  them  is  one  of  the  great  causes  of  com- 
petition and  strife  among  them.  The  min- 
ister receives  a  modest  share  of  these  mate- 
rial goods. 

But  there  is  another  kind  of  reward  that 

[97] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

is  much  richer  and  nobler.  This  is  the  in- 
herent reward  that  grows  right  out  of  the 
service  itself.  Work  which  is  congenial  and 
delightful  is  its  own  reward.  This  is  emi- 
nently true  of  artistic  work.  The  sculptor's 
chisel  and  the  painter's  brush,  the  poet's 
flights  of  imagination  and  the  musician's 
song — these  forms  of  activity  may  be  intense 
toil  and  cost  sweat  and  even  the  agony  of  the 
soul,  but  they  are  also  the  soul's  finest  satis- 
faction and  fullest  joy.  These  activities  are 
not  weights  that  load  and  drag  the  soul  down 
into  slavery,  but  wings  that  set  it  free  in 
glorious  liberty.  Such  work  is  not  drudgery 
but  delight,  and  in  such  service  duty  and  de- 
sire coincide  and  make  one  music.  These  in- 
herent joys  are  ever  the  highest  and  richest 
rewards  of  service. 

All  men,  even  those  that  are  primarily 
working  for  external,  material  rewards,  may 
in  some  degree  attain  to  this  reward  and  joy 
inherent  in  their  work.  Not  only  the  business 
man  or  the  professional  man  may  have  such 
interest  in  his  work  that  it  becomes  its  own 

[98] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

satisfaction  and  delight,  but  even  the  com- 
mon laborer  at  the  hmnblest  and  hardest 
})liysical  toil  may  learn  to  love  his  work  and 
strive  to  do  it  better  for  its  own  sake;  and 
this  process  of  humanizing  the  common  labor 
and  all  the  work  of  the  world  and  opening  the 
eyes  of  men  so  that  they  will  see  its  inherent 
dignity  and  worth  and  reward  is  the  line 
along  which  we  must  hope  and  work  for  the 
improvement  of  the  condition  and  tlije  con- 
tentment of  the  industrial  toilers. 

Now  the  minister  is  engaged  in  work  that 
carries  its  reward  in  its  own  bosom.  All  the 
attractions  of  the  ministry  that  have  been 
considered,  w^ith  the  single  exception  of  the 
salary,  are  of  this  nature.  Its  social  position 
and  intellectual  life  and  teaching  and  speak- 
ing activities  and  soul-winning  and  building 
the  brotherhood  of  the  Church  and  commu- 
nity service  and  establishing  the  world-wide 
Kingdom  and  its  leadership  and  heroism  and 
coworking  with  God  and  Christ,  are  rewards 
and  joys  in  themselves.  They  pay  their  own 
way  at  every  step.     The  minister  does  not 

[99] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MliNISTKY 

need  to  wait  till  the  end  of  the  day's  work 
or  of  the  month's  service  to  receive  his  real 
pay:  his  work  is  his  wage.  In  a  supreme 
degree  he  has  the  wage  and  joy  ^^of  going 
on."  Like  the  artist  working  in  marble  or 
paint  or  poetry  or  music  he  is  carving  souls 
and  painting  j)ortraits  of  human  character 
and  expressing  the  poetry  of  life  and  help- 
ing to  set 

"This  inharmonious  world  in  tune  and  cause 
'  Our  jarring  lives  to  grow  to  mellow  music." 

His  soul  takes  flight  on  these  wings  and 
rises  above  drudgery  into  liberty.  Often  his 
duty  and  his  desire  and  his  delight  coincide 
and  flow  in  one  smooth  channel ;  he  does  just 
what  he  wants  to  do  and  he  wants  to  do  just 
what  he  ought  to  do,  and  this  is  life  without 
friction  or  fret  and  is  the  glorious  liberty  of 
the  sons  of  God. 

Of  course  this  ideal  is  not  always  or  con- 
stantly realized.  The  minister,  like  other 
men,  has  his  days  of  disillusionment  and  dis- 
couragement bordering  at  times  on  despair; 
many  are  his  trials ;  but  through  them  all  and 

[  100  ] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

in  spite  of  them  all  he  is  living  the  life  he  has 
chosen  and  wonld  choose  above  any  other  life, 
and  is  ordinarily  happy  in  it  and  at  times 
rises  into  the  victorious  life.  He  realizes  in 
a  peculiar  degree  the  gospel  of  cheer  and  the 
promises  of  blessing  that  he  preaches,  and 
would  not  exchange  the  grace  of  God  in  his 
calling  for  all  the  gold  in  the  world. 

The  great  preachers  have  gloried  in  the 
rewards  of  the  ministry  and  in  its  very  trials 
and  crosses.  The  Hebrew  prophets  were  men 
of  great  disappointments  and  sorrows,  but 
they  caught  golden  visions  and  lived  lives  of 
triumphant  faith  and  joy.  Paul  rejoiced  in 
his  calling  amidst  all  his  unparalleled  suffer- 
ings, and  when  the  grace  of  God  struck  the 
thorn  in  his  flesh  it  blazed  up  in  glory  as  the 
electric  current  when  it  encounters  the  resist- 
ance of  the  filament  in  the  lamp  flashes  into 
light.  The  supreme  example  of  reward  and 
joy  in  the  ministry  is  the  Master  himself, 
who,  notwithstanding  all  his  sorrows,  was 
anointed  with  the  oil  of  gladness  above  his 
fellows,  the  happiest  man  and  most  jubilant 

[101] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

optimist  that  ever  lived;  and  ^'Who  for  the 
joy  that  was  set  before  him  endured  the  cross, 
despising  shame.'' 

The  glorious  company  of  the  apostles  and 
martyrs,  who  counted  not  their  lives  dear, 
rejoiced  in  their  sufferings  and  would  not 
have  exchanged  the  martyr's  flames  that  en- 
veloped them  for  purple  robes  or  jeweled 
crowns.  The  minister  belongs  to  this  com- 
pany and  has  his  share  of  these  inherent  re- 
wards and  joys.  He  also  sees  of  the  travail 
of  his  soul  and  is  satisfied.  This  is  a  reward 
that  is  independent  of  wages  and  position 
and  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  world  and  is 
within  his  soul  a  well  of  water  springing  up 
Into  pure  and  fresh  life.  He  ever  carries  his 
reward  with  him,  he  reaps  as  he  sows,  his 
work  is  his  constant  wage.  At  the  end  of 
his  day's  work  comes  his  final  reward,  when 
he  can  exclaim  with  Paul,  ' '  I  have  fought  the 
good  fight,  I  have  finished  the  course,  I  have 
kept  the  faith:  henceforth  there  is  laid  up 
for  me  the  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the 
Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  to  me 

[102] 


SPECIFIC  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 


at  that  day;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  also  to 
all  them  that  have  loved  his  appearing. '^ 

These  manifold  and  various  aspects  of  the 
Christian  ministry  present  only  its  attrac- 
tions and  magnify  its  office,  for  this  is  our 
present  purpose.  No  doubt  other  aspects  can 
be  presented  and  even  painted  in  dark  colors, 
though  these  have  not  been  wholly  overlooked 
in  this  study.  The  ministry  is  subject  to  the 
ordinary  disappointments  and  trials  of  life 
and  also  has  vexations  and  battles  of  its  own. 
The  minister's  crown  is  attended  with  a 
cross,  and  there  are  plenty  of  thorns  con- 
cealed in  the  roses  in  his  garden.  We  have 
no  disposition  to  deny  or  minimize  this  as- 
pect of  this  calling.  They  furnish  occasions 
when  the  minister  is  to  exercise  his  faith 
and  patience  and  bravery  and  heroism, 
and  without  such  trials  and  tests  he  could 
scarcely  be  a  strong  and  virile  man.  The 
battle  field  is  the  correlative  of  the  soldier's 
calling  and  courage,  and  it  is  so  with  the 
good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  expects  the 
march  and  trench  and  firing  line  and  the  leap 

[103] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

over  the  top.  He  asks  for  no  soft  life  and 
flowery  beds  of  ease,  but  girds  himself  up  for 
service  and  genuine  sacrifice,  if  needs  be  even 
unto  death. 

But  when  the  account  is  cast  up  the  at- 
tractions of  the  ministry  overwhelmingly  out- 
weigh its  trials,  and  it  makes  a  superb  appeal 
to  strong  young  men  with  faith  in  their  hearts 
and  courage  in  their  souls  to  enlist  in  this 
service. 


[1041 


IV 

SOME  SUBSIDIARY  QUESTIONS 


s 


IV 

SOME  SUBSIDIARY  QUESTIONS 

EVERAL  subsidiary  questions  of  impor- 
tance remain  to  be  answered. 


A  Call  to  the  Ministry 

1.  What  constitutes  a  call  to  the  ministry? 
Answers  formerly  given  to  this  question 
seemed  to  say  or  to  imply  that  the  minister 
must  receive  a  special  call  of  a  supernatural 
nature  from  the  Lord.  There  is  an  element 
of  truth  in  this  view,  but  it  may  make  a  mis- 
leading impression.  All  men  engaged  in 
worthy  service  are  called  to  their  work  by 
the  Lord.  God's  plan  extends  to  everyone's 
work,  but  each  one  can  and  must  find  out 
what  is  the  Lord's  will  for  him,  not  by  any 
supernatural  voice  or  sign,  but  by  the  use 
of  the  ordinary  means  for  discovering  the 
divine  will. 

If  we  study  the  calls  to  enter  the  Lord's 

[107] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

service  that  are  recorded  in  the  Scriptures, 
such  as  to  Moses,  Ex.  3 : 1-12 ;  Bezalel,  Ex. 
31:1-5;  Gideon,  Judg'.  6:11-18;  Samuel,  I 
Sam.  3  : 1-14 ;  David,  I  Sam.  16 :  11-13 ;  Isaiah, 
Isa.  6 : 1-13 ;  Amos,  Amos  1:1;  Peter  and 
Andrew,  James  and  John,  Mark  1 :  16-20 ;  the 
twelve  disciples,  Mark  3 :  13-19 ;  Paul,  Acts 
9 : 1-12 ;  and  many  others,  we  discover  that  no 
two  received  a  call  in  just  the  same  way,  and 
so  no  one  need  be  surprised  if  his  call  is 
peculiar  to  himself  and  conforms  to  no  other 
one's  experience  or  even  to  any  Scripture 
example. 

In  some  instances  apparently  accidental  or 
trivial  circumstances  have  turned  young  men 
into  the  ministry.  Frederick  W.  Robertson 
in  his  youth  had  his  heart  set  on  the  career 
of  a  soldier,  but,  an  expected  commission  fail- 
ing to  arrive,  he  went  to  Oxford  University 
to  study  for  the  ministry.  When  the  belated 
commission  turned  up  within  five  days,  he 
accepted  the  circumstance  as  an  indication  of 
the  divine  will,  continued  in  his  course  and 
became  one  of  the  greatest  preachers  of  his 

[108] 


SOME  SUBSIDIARY  QUESTIONS 


century.  In  other  cases  a  quiet  conviction  is 
born  in  the  soul  and  a  young  man  feels  he 
is  called  to  the  ministry  as  Wordsworth  was 
called  to  be  a  poet.  He  was  returning  home 
in  the  early,  dewy  hours  of  a  day  when  '  ^  Mag- 
nificent the  morning  rose,  in  memorable 
pomp, ' '  and  then,  he  says  in  the  Prelude : 

My  heart  was  full;  I  made  no  vows,  but  vows 
Were  then  made  for  me;  bond  unknown  to  me 
Was  given,  that  I  should  be,  else  sinning  greatly, 
A  dedicated  Spirit. 

Back  of  such  a  call  to  the  ministry  may  be 
a  mother's  prayers  or  a  father's  desire,  the 
memory  of  a  sermon  or  some  special  provi- 
dence. Many  are  the  ways  in  which  God 
makes  known  his  will.  The  wind  bloweth 
where  it  will;  so  is  everyone  that  is  born 
or  called  of  the  Spirit. 

The  call  to  the  ministry  is  indicated  by 
means,  and  these  primarily  include  the  Chris- 
tian experience,  prayer,  and  the  spirit  of 
obedience,  but  they  also  include  one's  ability 
and  aptitude  and  temperament  and  taste  for 
the  work  and  his  opportunity  for  entering  it. 

[109] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

One  may  be  fitted  for  the  ministry  and  not 
have  an  opportunity  of  preparing*  for  it ;  and 
he  may  have  the  oi)portunity  and  not  be  fitted 
for  it.  When  physical  health  and  mental 
ability  and  si3iritual  temperament  and  op- 
portunity for  preparation  and  a  sense  of  the 
appeal  of  its  work  combine  into  a  conviction 
of  duty  to  enter  it,  such  a  combination  and 
conviction  constitute  a  clear  call  to  the  min- 
istry. Let  no  young  man  set  up  impossible 
conditions  or  erect  unreasonable  barriers  to 
exclude  or  excuse  him  from  this  calling,  but 
having  a  reasonable  measure  of  ability  and 
a  sense  of  duty  he  should  make  his  decision 
and  commit  his  way  to  the  Lord. 

Preparation  for  the  Ministry 

2.  What  preparation  is  necessary  or  need- 
ful for  a  successful  ministry?  Of  course  it 
is  assumed  that  the  primary  preparation  and 
essential  qualification  for  this  service  is  faith 
in  God  and  in  the  gospel  of  Christ  and  a 
Christian  experience  and  spirit.  But  our 
question  relates  to  the  special  training  for 

[110] 


SOME  SUBSIDIARY  QUESTIONS 

this  calling,  and  the  answer  to  it  would  vary 
with  dilferent  denominations  and  is  subject 
to  modifications  in  exceptional  circumstances 
and  cases.  Everyone,  however,  entering  this 
field  should  get  the  largest  preparation  pos- 
sible for  him.  This  should  include  a  regular 
college  course  and  seminary  training.  These 
terms  may  be  exacting  for  some,  but  they  are 
the  necessary  price  that  must  be  paid  for 
competency  for  this  vocation.  The  standard 
of  preparation  has  been  greatly  raised  for 
all  professions  and  even  for  mechanical 
trades,  and  the  minister  must  rise  in  his 
equipment  with  this  general  rise  in  the  level 
of  intelligence  and  trained  ability.  The  pul- 
pit calls  for  greater  general  talent  and  more 
thorough  specialized  training  in  our  day  than 
ever  before.  Formerly  the  minister  was  the 
most  highly,  if  not  the  only,  specially  edu- 
cated man  in  the  community,  standing  head 
and  shoulders  above  his  people  and  speaking 
to  them  in  terms  and  tones  of  authority.  But 
this  day  has  passed,  and  now  the  preacher  is 
only  one  among  many,  and  he  is  speaking  to 
[111] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

many  who  stand  on  the  same  general  level 
with  him,  and  usually  to  a  few  who  are  his 
equals  or  his  superiors  in  intellectual  attain- 
ments. Even  to  hold  his  own  with  his  peo- 
ple he  must  stand  with  them  if  not  above 
them.  The  minister  must  be  a  man  of  uni- 
versal education  and  culture,  knowing  every- 
thing about  one  or  a  few  things,  and  some- 
thing about  everything.  Without  this  large 
background  of  knowledge  he  may  at  any  mo- 
ment blunder  into  statements  disclosing  some 
ignorance  or  bigotry  on  his  part  that  will  ex- 
cite the  criticism  or  ridicule  or  contempt  of 
his  people  and  damage  his  usefulness. 

The  ministry  has  become  a  much  larger 
and  more  complex  work  than  formerly,  and 
the  minister  must  be  an  organizer  and  ad- 
ministrator and  promoter  and  must  know 
how  to  handle  men  and  people  of  all  types 
and  temperaments,  and  this  calls  for  a  richly 
developed  personality,  a  full-grown  man. 

The  young  man  entering  the  ministry  to- 
day should  take  time  to  get  ready.  The  serv- 
ice may  be  short,  but  the  preparation  for  it 

[112] 


SOME  SUBSIDIARY  QUESTIONS 

must  be  long.  The  harvest  iivdj  ripen  in  a 
day  and  be  gathered  in  an  hour,  but  through 
weeks  and  months  it  slowly  absorbed  juicy 
sweets  and  ripening  influences  out  of  the  soil 
and  the  shower  and  the  sun  for  that  golden 
wheat  and  rosy  apple.  A  meteor  burns  itself 
out  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  but  through 
how  many  millions  of  invisible  miles  did  it 
accumulate  momentum  for  that  brief  flash  of 
splendor!  A  great  surgeon  said  that  if  he 
had  only  three  minutes  for  a  critical  opera- 
tion he  would  take  two  to  get  ready.  Jesus 
took  thirty  years  of  preparation  for  just 
three  years  of  work.  Young  men  are  often 
impatient  to  get  to  work  and  take  a  short-cut 
and  rush  into  action  before  they  have  been 
drilled  into  skill  and  efficiency.  Many  a  min- 
ister has  greatly  lowered  and  injured,  if  not 
ruined,  his  usefulness  by  hurrying  into  the 
pulpit  instead  of  going  patiently  through  a 
thorough  course  of  training.  Take  time  and 
get  ready.  Pay  the  price  of  preparation.  Lay 
deep  foundations  on  which  to  build  the  struc- 
ture of  after  years;  prepare  a  rich  soil  out 
[11- J 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

of  wliicli  good  sermons  can  grow.  Develop 
a,  personality  of  poise  and  power  that  will  be 
a  perennial  fountain  of  fresh  force.  The 
minister,  above  every  other  man,  ought  to  be 
a  workman  that  needs  not  to  be  ashamed,  and 
such  a  workman  must  serve  a  full  apprentice- 
ship. 

The  Special  Need  for  Ministers  To-Day 

3.  A  third  question  is.  Is  there  any  special 
need  and  call  for  ministers  of  superior  abil- 
ity to-day?  There  has  been  for  several  years 
and  is  now  in  nearly  all  denominations  and 
theological  seminaries  a  serious  decline  in 
the  number  of  candidates  for  the  ministry. 
The  reasons  for  this  fact  are  various.  For 
one  thing,  the  pulpit  now  has  more  competi- 
tion even  in  Christian  work  than  it  had  for- 
merly. Young  men  once  went  to  college  for 
one  of  the  three  learned  professions:  law, 
medicine,  and  the  ministry.  Now  they  go 
with  many  professions  and  technical  callings 
in  view,  and  these  alluring  fields  draw  off 
some  men  from  the  ministry;  and  there  are 

[114] 


SOME  SUBSIDIARY  QUESTIONS 

also  allied  lines  of  Christian  work,  such  as 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaryships,  that  call  for  edu- 
cated men.  The  pulpit  no  longer  stands  out 
in  solitary  glory  as  the  one  place  for  trained 
Christian  work.  The  meager  support  offered 
the  ministry,  the  disinclination  of  churches 
to  call,  as  settled  pastors,  ministers  who  are 
approaching  advanced  age,  and  the  attrac- 
tions of  business  are  other  causes  furthering 
this  decline. 

But  there  are  yet  deeper  reasons  operating 
at  this  point,  and  one  of  these  is  the  decline 
of  the  pulpit  itself.  The  Church  is  not  now 
everywhere  the  central  and  supreme  com- 
munity institution  that  it  once  was.  It  has 
lost  the  support  if  not  the  respect  of  not  a 
few  people,  even  of  some  thoughtful  and  good 
people.  The  laboring  men  have  come  in  con- 
siderable numbers  to  view  it  as  a  rich  peo- 
ple's club,  if  not  an  avowedly  capitalistic  in- 
stitution. Many  men  have  also  come  to  look 
on  it  as  a  feminine,  if  not  a  child's,  affair 
and  not  a  man's  place.  To  them  it  does  not 
seem  worth  while.    Religious  doubt  and  the 

[115] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

materialism  of  tlie  age  are  also  causes  tend- 
ing to  reduce  the  relative  standing  and  power 
of  the  Church  and  pulpit.  In  view  of  all 
these  conditions  it  is  not  surprising  that 
many  young  men  have  grown  shy  of  the 
Church  and  the  ministry.  They  do  not  want 
to  board  what  they  may  suspect  is  an  anti- 
quated and  obsolete  or  a  leaking  and  sinking 
ship,  when  they  are  ambitious  *^to  sail  be- 
yond the  sunset  and  the  baths  of  all  the  west- 
ern stars.'' 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Church  stands  for 
a  deep  and  permanent  constitutional  need  in 
human  nature  and  can  no  more  be  outgrown 
and  left  behind  than  can  wheat  fields  and 
orchards.  Religious  doubt  and  faith  fluctu- 
ate and  the  tide  of  faith  now  appears  to  be 
rising.  The  Church  is  being  reconstructed 
in  its  teaching  and  work  and  spirit  to  meet 
the  new  conditions  of  the  new  age  more  di- 
rectly and  fully.  Men's  Bible  classes,  brother- 
hoods, and  other  forms  of  men's  work  are 
drawing  men  back  into  the  Church  and  mak- 
ing it  a  man's  institution  as  well  as  an  insti- 

[116] 


SOME  SUBSIDIARY  QUESTIONS 

tution  for  women  and  children.  The  religious 
needs  and  problems  and  perils  of  the  world 
are  just  as  great  and  urgent  to-day  as  ever 
and  even  greater  and  more  clamant.  The 
world,  as  it  still  lies  broken  and  bleeding  by 
the  Great  War,  now  presents  a  supreme,  re- 
ligious crisis  and  call.  Never  has  it  been  so 
pliant  and  plastic  since  the  Reformation,  and 
possibly  it  can  be  rebuilt  and  reshaped  by  the 
men  of  this  generation  as  no  other  genera- 
tion could  have  remolded  it  since  the  first  cen- 
tury. It  spells  opportunity  for  the  men  of 
to-day. 

The  pulpit  appears  to  be  rising  to  this  op- 
portunity and  is  bound  to  regain  some  if  not 
all  of  its  former  leadership  and  power.  The 
able  preacher  and  masterful  leader  of  to-day 
has  a  great  call  and  a  splendid  opportunity 
to  fulfill  the  ministry  of  a  prophet.  He  pro- 
claims and  interprets  and  applies  the  gospel 
of  Christ  so  as  to  prove  it  the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation.  Other  men  have  wounded 
and  crushed  the  world  with  destructive 
agents  of  war :  it  is  now  his  mission  to  heal 

[117] 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  THE  MINISTRY 

it  and  restore  it  to  peace  and  brotherhood  by 
the  grace  of  God.  He  is  to  rebuild  the  world 
into  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 

This  is  a  challenge  and  a  call  to  our  ablest 
and  choicest  young  men  of  vision  and  adven- 
turous, heroic  spirit.  No  other  calling  can  so 
appeal  to  them  as  supremely  worth  while  in 
this  great  time.  No  young  man  is  choosing 
a  small  or  discredited  or  declining  cause  in 
wintering  the  Christian  ministry  to-day.  The 
pulpit  has  great  days  behind  it,  but  its  great- 
est days  are  yet  to  come.  It  is  right  now  the 
most  strategic  point  and  platform  for  a  man 
to  occupy  and  make  himself  count  for  most 
in  the  world.  There  is  a  special  call  for 
strong  young  men  in  the  ministry  at  this  time. 
Young  men  should  be  glad  they  are  alive  in 
this  great  hour,  when  the  plastic  world  is 
rounding  into  form  and  rolling  through  the 
shadows  of  the  night  into  the  better  day ;  and 
no  other  man  has  such  an  opportunity  to  put 
and  leave  the  impress  of  his  hand  upon  it  as 
the  Christian  minister. 

These  considerations  have  been  presented 

[118] 


SOME  SUBSIDIARY  QUESTIONS 

in  the  hope  that  they  will  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  many  of  our  ablest  young  men  and  be 
the  means  of  leading  them  to  dedicate  them- 
selves to  the  Christian  ministry.  It  is  a  glori- 
ous calling  and  it  is  crowned  with  a  glorious 
reward  both  in  this  present  world  and  in  that 
which  is  to  come. 


[119] 


1 

Date  Due 

:^0mmm 

•v 

1 

^ 

